Ent is the solo musical project of Atsuhi Horie who hails from Nagasaki in the south of Japan. Horie's main gig is of frontman of the BritPop influenced band STRAIGHTENER (EMI) which has a devoted and somewhat large following in their native Japan. However, Atsushi became attracted to Leftfield electronics and Post-rock which led him to start writing a solo album in 2006 that infused more of those genres' elements in an effort to make something more personal and deeply sentimental. Three years in the making this first album "Welcome Stranger" is a lush album of wide eyed and unapologetic left of center pop somewhere between The Album Leaf and The Postal Service. Atsushi has succeeded in crafting an album that utilizes his newer influences with the more traditional style of song-craft his band STRAIGHTENER is known for. “Welcome Stranger” also features remixes from Kettel (Sending Orbs), Near The Parenthesis (n5MD) and Helios (Type).

igloomag

Atsushi Horie is the frontman of Britpop influenced band Straightener who have accumulated a strong following in their native Japan. Having developed an increasing interest in experimental electronic and post-rock music Horie - who hails from Nagasaki in Southern Japan - began writing Welcome Stranger, his debut solo album under the name Ent, in 2006. The album was later released on Tokyo’s Preco Records in February of 2009. Now licensed for release by n5MD the album additionally includes remixes by Kettel, Near the Parenthesis and Helios.

Unashamedly pop orientated Welcome Stranger focuses on acoustic and electric guitar paired with Horie’s voice. Consisting of guitar melodies and simple electronic rhythms Welcome Stranger occasionally ventures into more experimental electronic territory with the addition of discrete clicks, glitches and, from time to time, a field recording. "Will" is an interesting example of this with its fast beat, guitar and bubbling keyboard melody accompanied early on by the sound of someone running backwards and forwards across a wooden floor cleverly used as a rhythmic backing to Horie’s guitar. Also interesting is the opening track "No Tone" for its fragments of sampled guitar, Horie’s soft vocal, the crashing beat and a recognisable psychedelic flute-like sound that gives the track a dreamy quality. The same vocal style runs throughout the album perhaps with most effect on "Do Not Adjust Your Set" where a kicking break, tinkling melodies, gently driving guitar and Horie’s voice all come together in one great pop song.

Kettel’s remix of "Silver Moment" strips away the heavy guitar that partially obscured Horie’s vocal in the original and emphasises the electronic elements with a snappy beat, bright melodies and summery feel. Near the Parenthesis transform "No Tone" into a sombre track with a dark gentle beauty all of its own, slowly building until it almost implodes. Closing the album is the Helios remix of "Farewell Dear Stranger" stays fairly true to the original adding a radiant droning backdrop, subtly different drums and drawing out Horie’s vocal. textura

Ent's Welcome Stranger was originally issued on the Japanese Preco imprint in February 2009, but n5MD clearly thought highly enough of it to give it a broader release platform a year later. Ent isn't a group but the solo project of Nagasaki resident Atsushi Horie who also fronts the Brit-Pop-influenced band Straightener in his Japan homeland. Even so, Horie, who sings and plays guitars and keyboards on the album, creates a convincing simulation of a full band sound, an impression bolstered by the addition of Takanori Ohita whose drumming adds considerable punch to the eight songs on which he appears. Three years in the making, Welcome Stranger presents seven originals and three remixes (by Kettel, Near The Parenthesis, and Helios) in a collection of ebullient, vocal-based dreampop that'll appeal to fans of The Postal Service and The Notwist.

“No Tone” begins the album on a slightly Beatles-esque note by coupling Sgt Pepper-ish mellotron flutes and splashes of glitch acoustic guitars, and then expanding on the song's arrangement by adding martial drumming, jubilant vocal harmonies, and even a stabbing electric guitar or two. “Sleeping Ghosts” showcases Ent's breezy shoegaze dimension, while a post-rock side comes to the fore during “Will” when electric guitars and drums (supplemented by electronics and atmospheric vocals) race one another towards some imaginary finish line. The harder-edged “Do Not Adjust Your Set” brings funk and rock into the Ent fold (and even some blistering guitar work at song's end), and acoustic guitars and glockenspiel extend the wistful character of “Farewell Dear Stranger.” In his radio-friendly “Sitcom” remix, Kettel boosts the poppy character of “Silver Moment” and adds some funky swing to it too. At disc's end, Near The Parenthesis smooths out the edges of “No Tone” with synthetics and polishes the song until it sparkles, and Helios deepens the emotional impact of “Farewell Dear Stranger” by upping the original's dramatic ante. Recommended for dreampop devotees everywhere.

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