With Waken, Cuushe's Mayuko Hitotsuyanagi delivers some of her most uninhibited music. This may or may not be because she's finally free to make music undisturbed: After a stalker began harassing her and her label flau in 2017, she took some time to deal with, and recover from, the ordeal. While Hitotsuyanagi's third full-length is frequently as dreamy as her previous work -- the opening track "Hold Half" is as wispy and massive as clouds -- it also captures the feeling of arising to an early morning full of possibilities. She brings more structure to her lush sound than ever before on "Magic," and though her music has always flowed gracefully between dream pop and dance, this time it leans more toward the latter. It's no coincidence that Cuushe appeared on Populous' W the same year Waken appeared, and her approach often recalls Ela Minus' in its impressionistic blend of beats and atmosphere. Hitotsuyanagi skillfully borrows U.K. garage influences on the strikingly elastic percussion and synths of "Emergence," while the busy, shuffling rhythms on "Drip" provide the perfect contrast to its airy melody. She gets even more adventurous on the R&B-tinged "Nobody," where the metallic percussion and impassioned vocals recall FKA twigs, and on "Beautiful," a six-minute statement that moves from contemplative sighs to the playfulness of a vintage video game soundtrack. A gorgeously inventive return, Waken feels like a call to leave the past behind and move forward -- both of which Cuushe does artfully. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

1		Hold Half
2		Magic
3		Emergence
4		Not to Blame
5		Nobody
6		Drip
7		Beautiful
8		Spread

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