Haco has long been at the forefront of Japanese pop improvisation. Her sterling work with After Dinner and subsequent live performances (a recent appearance at the last LMC festival being one particularly memorable event) have opened up new spheres of storytelling in song to which Haco has added her own unique voice and vision. For her first eponymously titled solo album Haco has used pre-recorded tapes to form a band that includes cello player Tom Cora and percussionists Samm Bennett and Peter Hollinger, plus studio work from bass player Nobuhisa Shimoda, bansuri (Indian transverse flute) player Hiroshi Nakagawa and guitarist Tsuneo Imahori whose brilliant blasts of near Blue Cheer inspired string tugging launch the opening track "Unguarded" into a zone that teeters on the precipice of hard rock. Holding this song from toppling down that dark crevice, however, is Haco's glorious vocal which new ears could be forgiven for mistaking for that of Kate Bush with just a dash of Dagmar Krause and surrealistic dance siren Bjork thrown in for good measure. This last comparison shines through especially on songs such as "The Way Things Go (Golden Baby" and the impressive "Excellent Waves" which comes equipped with a fine drone track, the perfect base for Haco and her band to spread a vast instrumental and vocal canopy, where echoes of The Beach Boys at their most experimental alongside Van Dyke Parks magically materialise.

Haco refuses, however, to abandon her own culture in favour of a celebration of western ideas and the album is interwoven with traditional Japanese instrumentation and language, the most beautiful example of this being the moving "Oil And Water" where she lets pour one of her finest songs to date with minimum accompaniment that surfaces like the swell of some gigantic alien orchestra to leave the listener breathless. This is a landmark album for Haco, a record which sees her return as a major force in contemporary music and as an artist who knows how to break down cultural barriers without alienating those who choose to listen to her very personal, but all embracing new music.