Hinako Omori: International Showcase Fund (SXSW 2024)
SXSW 2024, Austin, Texas
Since 2022’s critically acclaimed debut album, ‘a journey…’, Hinako Omori has fast become one of the UK’s most compelling breakthrough musicians, blurring the lines between classical, electronic and ambient. A concept album inspired by the ancient Japanese ritual of forest bathing, ‘a journey…’s lush textures, rooted in nature, were called “remarkable” by Pitchfork and received heavy rotation on BBC 6Music. Omori has since supported Beth Orton, Anna Meredith and Ichiko Aoba, played with a 60-piece orchestra for BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified and joined Floating Points’ esteemed ensemble at the Hollywood Bowl to perform Promises, his collaborative album with the late Pharoah Sanders. Omori’s second album ‘stillness, softness…’ was released in October 2023 via Houndstooth, and explores a new sonic range within Omori’s world of analogue synths. The songs explore themes of dreams versus reality, solitude, and reconnecting with and finding peace within ourselves – Omori was particularly taken by the idea of our shadow selves, and the need to reconcile with them in order to break free.<br />After a headline tour for the new album in the UK and Europe, Omori will be taking the new live show to Austin, Texas to perform at SXSW 2024 with the help of the International Showcase Fund.