Erika Dohi – Aratani
Today, Osaka-born, New York–based artist Erika Dohi releases her new single and video “Aratani” (feat. Adam O’Farill), a nostalgic meditation on memory, time, and impermanence from her forthcoming album Myth of Tomorrow, due October 24 via Switch Hit/Figureight.
Alongside lead single “Ame Onna,” the tracks preview Erika’s latest artistic evolution, weaving her eclectic musical background into an immersive, otherworldly opus.
Inspired by her return to Japan during a loved one’s final days, the ethereal track captures the bittersweet beauty of revisiting spaces imbued with history and emotion. “Aratani explores the intangible connection between the present and the past, where memories unfold like infinite landscapes beyond the edges of time,” Erika explains. With its tender melodies, the song invites listeners to recall their own cherished moments and find solace in the infinite space of remembrance and dreams.
Erika’s debut on 37d03d—the label founded by Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and The National’s Aaron & Bryce Dessner—earned international acclaim for its inventive, genre-fluid compositions. With her follow-up, she ventures into even more ambitious sonic and conceptual territory, drawing inspiration from Taro Okamoto’s colossal mural depicting the Hiroshima bombing, merging historical trauma with her own personal upheaval to forge the album’s mythology.
Produced with Grammy-winning composer William Brittelle (Roomful of Teeth, Julia Holter) and created during her residency at Brooklyn’s Figure 8 studio in partnership with Wally De Backer’s (aka Gotye) Forgotten Futures, the project gave Erika access to a galaxy of new instruments and production tools. She expands her already eclectic sonic palette with traditional Japanese instruments and the iconic Fairlight CMI synthesizer, while bringing her mesmeric vocals to the forefront for the first time. Supported by Metropolis Ensemble and featuring key contributions from poet Carol Féliz, trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, violinist Lauren Cauley, and renowned multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, Dohi blurs electronic music, jazz, ambient, classical, and chamber pop into a singular body of work that is at once intimate and cosmic.
Dohi began writing Myth of Tomorrow in the earliest days of pandemic lockdown, recording alone on her phone in her apartment. “I had just moved back to New York City, only to find the city—and my professional life—suddenly paused. In that stillness, I confronted what I’ve come to call my ‘inner jails’: the emotional and mental confines we carry with us, no matter where we are.” She continues: “Born from solitude and stillness, Myth of Tomorrow emerged from a realization that we are never truly alone. It’s an invitation to look inward, to sit with uncertainty, and to find hope and resilience in our shared human experience.”
To celebrate the album’s release on October 24, Erika will host a special event at the contemporary art gallery Candice Madey in New York City, with support from Metropolis Ensemble and Forgotten Futures.
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