As much of the world continues to balance a life spent indoors with sporadic outings, finding ways to make your living space more audibly habitable is a priority. And while music with lyrics may be the go-to choice for an impromptu session of lockdown karaoke, vocals can often feel message-driven: simply a case of adding somebody else’s thoughts — worries, even — to your own. Ambient music, on the other hand, can feel soothing and, at times, cathartic.
While Kumi Takahara’s music isn’t strictly ambient, her debut album, “See-Through,” hints at it through a collection of 10 soundscapes painted with a varied palette of influences.
Takahara is a classically trained violinist who started playing the instrument at age 3, a fact that’s not necessarily evident on much of her album. Rather than showing off her virtuosic talents, she experiments: On “Roll,” the strings scratch and needle through the air with stuttering harmonics, mechanical vibrato adding to the scene. The following track, "Chime," features a violin solo that's almost childlike, as well as a shadowy piano rendition of the Westminster Quarters, a common melody for clock chimes.