Photo by Masato Yokoyama
Makiko Suzuki, who also performs as a member of chelmico, held a solo concert of the same title at Ebisu Garden Hall in Tokyo on July 12th to promote her second solo album “mukuge,” which was released on her birthday, June 26th.
At the appointed time, with a fantastic synth sound ringing out, the support members Ryo Takahashi (Dr), Shinya Inoue (Ba), Naruki Numazawa (Key, Ob), ESME MORI (Key), and TiMT (Gt) appeared on stage. They stood side by side on a raised stage, and cheers of “It’s like Kraftwerk!” rang out from the surroundings. Makiko, who appeared later, was wearing a blue-gray set. As she revealed in the MC later, this was the same outfit worn by dancer SoraKi (THE D SoraKi) in the music video for “Utsutsu.”
After a moment of silence, the live started with “EO”, led by a thrilling bass line. This song, which was the last song on “mukuge”, is a disturbing hip-hop tune that stood out among the acoustic and Brazilian music-influenced albums. He then moved on to “19” from his first mini-album “Deep Green”, arranging the lo-fi and minimalist breakbeats in the original sound source into a melancholic Latin rock flavor featuring organ sounds.
Photo by Masato Yokoyama
After a lively greeting of “Good evening! I’m Suzuki Makiko. Nice to meet you,” she performed “Utsutsu,” the opening song of “mukuge.” The song was born while she was playing her acoustic guitar while admiring the leaning cactus in her home, and it has a cute yet sophisticated melody reminiscent of Yumi Arai’s early songs. Makiko’s slightly husky voice penetrates the folds of your heart as she carefully sings each word, carefully checking them.
“Sake wo Nomita Yoru” (A Night of Drinking), which started with TiMT’s acoustic guitar, is an acoustic song in collaboration with Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter May Simones. The band joined in the live performance, gently supporting Makiko’s singing and gradually building up the excitement. The ad-libbed scat, which seems to respond to that, is also irresistibly cute.
Photo by Masato Yokoyama
Afterwards, she performed a series of songs that clearly demonstrated her talent as a melody maker, including the soul tune “Kumokusei,” which she co-wrote with Percy, aka TOSHIKI HAYASHI (%C), in 2018; the shuffle song “Come and Go,” which features a slightly beatish melody over rhythmic piano; and “Kimochi,” a softly sung song accompanied by the gut guitar of Ryo Takahashi, the band leader for the day and a major contributor to the production of “mukuge.”
The highlight of the album was “May Sea,” one of the most memorable songs on “mukuge.” The first half of the song has an acoustic section that makes you feel like you’re watching a vast ocean (though the “sea” in the song title means “pus” rather than “ocean”), and then the rap section cuts out scenes from everyday life while also diving deep into the inner self. The dynamic performance, which goes back and forth between “stillness” and “movement” like the ebb and flow of the waves, and Makiko’s vocal expression, which is like that of a storyteller, made me feel like I had just finished watching a movie.
Photo by Masato Yokoyama
The second half of the concert included songs from the previous album, “ms,” such as “Uramimi,” which featured a solo battle between the band members, “Somewhere Saturday,” which increased the sense of unity with the audience through singing along, and “Judenchu,” which could be described as a neo-soul tune in Makiko’s style. There was also a moment when Makiko performed the somewhat exotic song “Kioisabo,” with its tempo changing, on a glockenspiel, which she said she “bought just for this day.”
Photo by Masato Yokoyama
The audience was excited by the swing jazz song “Kara Kara” which was further upgraded with a live arrangement, the rock arrangement of “Lazy River”, and the straight and passionate love song “In a Bubble with U” to close the main part of the show. During the encore, she sang two songs from her first mini album “Deep Green”, “Blue” and “Contact”, and ended the day’s live performance by confirming her “origins”.
It was a fulfilling evening that confirmed where Suzuki Makiko is now, as she continues to grow steadily as an artist, switching between chelmico and her solo activities and gaining a network of trusted musical friends.
As the concert was sold out, an additional concert will be held at Yokohama Bay Hall in Kanagawa on July 20. In addition, a new EP “ati natu ep” containing three summer songs by Chelmico will be released on July 24, and a solo tour is scheduled to begin in September.
＜Release Information＞
2nd album
Makiko Suzuki’s “mukuge” is now available on various streaming services
https://orcd.co/mukuge_kiitene
Makiko Suzuki solo live -mukuge- additional performance
July 20th (Sat) Yokohama Bay Hall
Tickets on sale now
Pia:https://t.pia.jp/pia/artist/artists.do?artistsCd=L7050004
Born in Tokyo, he formed chelmico in 2014.
After releasing the EP “Deep green” in 2017, she joined Pistachio Studio, also known as the “Neighborhood Recording Team” based in Kanagawa Prefecture, and started her solo name as Suzuki Makiko. In 2021, she released her first album “ms”, and participated as a guest artist in various works such as STUTS / TOSHIKI HAYASHI (%C) / yonawo / PAS TASTA / idom. This year, she released her second album “mukuge” on June 26th, which includes the song “Kara Kara” written for Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s new Pocari Sweat commercial and the tie-up song “kimochi” for Kao’s new hair care brand “melt”.
