SUGIZO’s album LOVE & TRANQUILITY, based on the concept of a “sound of salvation,” was released in 2020 during the suffering and distress of the COVID-19 pandemic. This ambient healing album has a loving spirit like a gentle remedy for the anger and hatred of that time. Looking back today, many people will likely recognize just how much relief they owe to that album.

In 2022, SUGIZO has started a new, full-scale collaboration with HATAKEN, a modular synthesizer performer he met in 2017. The Voyage to The Higher Self is the first original album from the duo named “SUGIZO×HATAKEN.”

SUGIZO said, “I really enjoyed collaborating with HATAKEN on the album ONENESS M, then I asked him to mix ‘The Voyage Home’ for my remix album SWITCHED-ON OTO (2018). He actually gave me four different versions, all of which were fantastic. I ended up selecting one for the album, but I wanted to share his other remixes with the world someday. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to have HATAKEN remix all of my songs. I ended up focusing on creating a whole album with him.”

These two men certainly did not meet by chance. Many modular synthesizer performers use their equipment as “noise machines” that make use of unpredictable qualities. In contrast, SUGIZO praises HATAKEN for having “a clear sense of the tones wants to create, and working to express these as music.” SUGIZO longed to collaborate with HATAKEN, imagining a contemporary version of Fripp & Eno, the legendary ambient duo formed by Brian Eno and Robert Fripp in 1973.

Since then SUGIZO and HATAKEN have worked together on multiple occasions, including many improvisational live performances. HATAKEN has also provided support for SUGIZO’s solo work. Finally, they embarked on their album as SUGIZO×HATAKEN according to a highly unique compositional process.

First, SUGIZO chooses one of his original compositions, then HATAKEN fully dismantles and reconstructs it. The process is like remixing up until this point, but the most important part is yet to come. Drawing inspiration from the rebuilt song, SUGIZO layers on new melodies and chords. By repeating these steps, the two musicians create a song that is entirely new—something that is not a pure remix, and one that is totally different from the original composition. Yet it is adorned with qualities that unmistakably come from SUGIZO and HATAKEN.

This resembles the DJs and producers in the 1990s who sampled famous recordings from the past to write new songs. SUGIZO and HATAKEN seem to have used an approach that modifies this idea for the contemporary era. In other words, it’s like they’re channeling a spirit—a new musical composition is reincarnated while still retaining memories of its past life (the original song). SUGIZO and HATAKEN did most of this work remotely, without getting together in person.

HATAKEN said, “The first thing I imagine is how to further expand the ‘aura’ from the sounds of the original song. I take it apart, both temporally and in terms of musical qualities, to complete the track in the initial stage, which I pass on to SUGIZO.”

SUGIZO was thrilled by the first song produced by HATAKEN. It led him to a miraculous epiphany: the concept of chakras, the Indian system of physical and spiritual energy points. This became the framework for the album.

“Let’s say the original song is a body. HATAKEN peels away the flesh, leaving only the spirit behind. To put it even more simply, think of the sounds I played on the original composition as a broth. HATAKEN takes that broth and transforms it into a superb soup. I add new ingredients as finishing touches, then HATAKEN simmers the whole thing together. When I listened to the first seven songs from HATAKEN, I hit on the idea of having them symbolize the seven chakras. On the album they are mostly presented in the order he completed them. There was no concept that guided the production of this album—the sounds led us to the theme,” SUGIZO stated.

SUGIZO said he set out on this project to create an album with ambient and healing elements, one that would soothe listeners and inspire spiritual resonance. In that way it is adjacent to LOVE & TRANQUILITY, his previous album. But by linking The Voyage to The Higher Self with the chakra philosophy, a line is drawn between the two, creating a distinctive identity for the duo of SUGIZO×HATAKEN.

Listeners should pay particular attention to the colors of these sounds. SUGIZO’s guitar may call up images of sharp sounds that seemingly rend the air, or that gently drift throughout space. When you imagine HATAKEN’s modular synthesizer, you may think of more traditionally electronic sounds. However, these types of sounds are mostly absent from The Voyage to The Higher Self.

The sounds that compose the seven chakras meld naturally and seamlessly, with no boundary lines between scales and tones, or between natural and electronic sounds. The intervals are outside the framework of twelve-tone music. It is an organic type of electronic music with synthesizer-like guitar sounds. The sounds simply exist; they do not force implications on the listener, but have significance exactly because they do exist.

For this reason, it is likely that individual listeners will feel different emotions while hearing the same soundscapes. They may also have entirely different impressions depending on when they are listening. It seems The Voyage to The Higher Self teaches us that nature and human emotions are this way.

SUGIZO commented, “The majority of sounds on this album were actually played on the guitar. By inputting most of them into his modular synthesizer, HATAKEN transformed them into something you wouldn’t usually expect from a guitar. They may sound like a synthesizer at first, but most of them are guitar. And because we utilized binaural audio on all of the songs, I think you’ll feel enwrapped in sound when you listen on headphones or earphones in particular. This isn’t just to surprise the listener or to try something different; we did it deliberately.”

“I think the finished songs don’t evoke the modular synthesizer. My goal wasn’t to surprise the listener. I wanted to imbue the listener’s heart with sounds that naturally inspire them to open their heart. At the same time, I do think this album may surprise you because it was made using a modular synthesizer via an astonishing process,” said HATAKEN with a laugh.

The Voyage to The Higher Self was finished at the end of 2021 and released at the start of 2022. SUGIZO stated, “Truthfully, I believe this is the music I genuinely wanted to create.”

He concluded, “I have a range of musical approaches, such as the improvisational skills I am perpetually exploring, performances with bands like SHAG, and ways that I embody my ideals as a member of a rock band like LUNA SEA. But I believe this album contains music that was truly born from my spirituality. Of course, while it’s not pop music that will climb the charts, I’m overjoyed that I’ve given concrete form to what I wanted to express for the first time.”

This marks the end of the voyage taken by the artists SUGIZO and HATAKEN to create this album and give voice to our current era. At the same time, we can also say it is the beginning of a new voyage by the listeners, who will explore the meanings of these songs and find answers to them. When a listener discovers the personal significance of these songs, they will likely be able to understand just how SUGIZO and HATAKEN viewed the epoch we are living in.

Text by Yuichiro FUSE