Ryuuta Takaki - Jewels (2025)

KITCHEN. LABEL introduces Jewels, the debut album by Tokyo-based composer Ryuuta Takaki. The ambient album, featuring mystical and neo-Orientalist overtones, draws inspiration from the symbolism of painter Gustave Moreau and the Kegon (Huayan) Buddhist cosmology, which views the universe as an interconnected network where every element reflects the whole. Takaki's music, previously rooted in experimental hip hop and electronica, now uses a timeless, borderless language, oscillating between sacred stillness and ornate intensity. Tracks like “Chrysalis”, “Funnel and Infinite Reflections”, the conceptual “Kegon”, the title track “Jewels”, the aquatic reverie “Sunken Cathedral”, and the lustrous “Gilded Veins” form a miniature cosmology. Takaki's work is likened to the dreamlike qualities of Susumu Yokota and Jon Hassell's "Fourth World" vision, dissolving cultural boundaries of East and West. Jewels is positioned as a sound mandala where every resonance is a living, infinite jewel. The album, mastered by Chihei Hatakeyama, is set for release on October 24th.

Tracklist:
1-1 Ryuuta Takaki - Chrysalis [4:30]
1-2 Ryuuta Takaki - Funnel and Infinite Reflections [3:02]
1-3 Ryuuta Takaki - Kegon [3:30]
1-4 Ryuuta Takaki - Jewels [4:23]
1-5 Ryuuta Takaki - Sunken Cathedral [3:45]
1-6 Ryuuta Takaki - Interflow [4:04]
1-7 Ryuuta Takaki - Nacre [3:30]
1-8 Ryuuta Takaki - Gilded Veins [3:08]
1-9 Ryuuta Takaki - Celestial Tuning [3:44]