![async ryuichi sakamoto async ryuichi sakamoto](https://d17egyts7igch8.cloudfront.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2__0204.jpg)
On the one hand, there’s a danger to this – a sense that, regardless of intention, the 14 pieces of music that make up async will be reorganised and reinterpreted, crowbarred to fit this narrative – that this will become Sakamoto’s “recovery album.” On the other, of course, as a reading this is as valid and vital as any other: yes, Sakamoto has described async as a soundtrack for a Tarkvosky film that does not exist – but one need not dive too far into the Russian director’s filmography to appreciate how much those films are informed by the themes of mortality, of shifting personal history, and of the duality of human nature (although it is strongly recommended that you do). Indeed, Sakamoto’s illness and recovery are now almost as ubiquitously appreciated as the depth and breadth of talent that he has – between Yellow Magic Orchestra, his work with Alva Noto, and that which he has created alone – consistently demonstrated and gifted to us as one of Japan’s greatest contemporary musicians and composers over the last 39 years. Enshrined in publicity materials and regurgitated ad infinitum by the music press, by this point in time it’s common knowledge that async is Ryuichi Sakamoto’s first solo album since recovering from throat cancer.