Formed in Tokyo in 1999, Japanese post-rock band MONO have been painting the world with their sublime sound for over a quarter of a century. With little help from the mainstream media, they’ve ploughed their own creative furrow and attracted an army of admirers through relentless touring and live shows that wring every drop of emotion from the band. That emotional quality is not an easy thing to carry over into the studio, yet MONO have managed, delivering a dozen studio albums that ululate like living creatures. Album number (lucky) thirteen is no exception and finds MONO bringing all their experience to bear, turning Snowdrop into a bud that blossoms and grows.
Music, perhaps more than any other art form, is a very personalised thing and vocals can repel as many people as they attract, but the opposite also applies and instrumental music can make people feel lost without words to anchor them and guide them through the song. Whilst MONO predominantly exist in the instrumental sphere, their music has a way of “speaking” in a way that much music devoid of lyrics doesn’t. They manipulate sounds and employ tone and timbre in a way that resonates with the listener on a deep, emotional level and have a cinematic quality that creates vivid, three-dimensional images in the mind’s eye. It is precisely this which takes the place of words and keeps the listener engaged over the course of fifty fluctuating minutes. It is with the title-track that the album begins and is indicative of the band’s approach: like time-lapse photography that shows a plant growing and bursting into life, ‘Snowdrop’ is a song that takes on form as it progresses, twisting and turning and forking off into unexpected directions.
Alluding to the album’s title, Snowdrop is a record that captures the essence of the year’s harshest season. As MONO’s career progressed they took on more classical influences with recent albums having contributions from string quartets and 28-piece chamber orchestras. To mirror the skeletal nature of winter, there’s a parred back aesthetic to Snowdrop, a feeling that the band have gone back to basics; that’s not to say they’re regressing, far from it, this is an album that very much points forwards, yet tracks such as ‘Shion’ find the band deriving their power from each other, four musicians locking in tightly to become more than the sum of their parts (and without the aid of large ensembles).
A softly spoken spell, Snowdrop has a hypnotic quality, so much so that its immersive nature will pull you deeply into its sphere. You will awaken at the album’s conclusion and wonder where the time has gone. ‘Farewell To Spring’ is the final track and suggests that this cycle of the band is coming to a finish and a new season will start. Who knows where MONO will go next, but on the strength of Snowdrop, it’s bound to be interesting.
- Snowdrop is released via Temporary Residence on 12th June 2026.
Track List:
- Snowdrop
- Winter Daphne
- Gerbera
- Statice
- Hedera
- Shion
- Bells Of Ireland
- Farewell To Spring
