wala.collective - self-titled
It’s late past midnight on a midsummer’s night. There’s leftover pizza and a couple of empty beer bottles on the kitchen table. In the living room, the TV is on mute, looping demos of Smash Brothers because someone forgot to turn off the Nintendo. Some friends are passed out on the couch, while others have gone out for a fried chicken and ice cream run. In another room, they’re dissecting a chain of text messages wondering if this guy’s stuck in the friend zone. Still, it’s quiet enough to hear the cicadas and the steady but slow drip from a leaking faucet. Amongst all this, the one guy who went to music school sits at the piano and plays a gentle lullaby that sounds like a whisper of the moon.
This is what you might imagine the wala.collective vibe to be, except in reality, the members are spread out across the world, from Japan to Malaysia, and rarely ever assemble in full. Yet it sounds still as cohesive as a bunch of friends hanging out in a house making music together, they just happen to be doing it virtually online. Part of that is because the group is made up of sets of childhood friends. As a producer group, they operate around their original concept of “wala”, which stems from the meaning and reading of various Japanese characters.
wa: 和 - Peace, a sense of relaxation
la: 裸 - Naked, to be comfortable in your skin
wala: 笑 - Laugh, to put a smile on your face
walabe: 童 - Child, giving hope to youth
But rather than being a team or unit, wala.collective views itself as a kind of shared house for artists. They don’t necessarily all feature on the same track, people can jump on, or sit out if they want. Anyone can start a new project, and each member brings something different from their own experiences and preferred musical genres.
As a result, on their self-titled debut album, each song sounds different, yet has common threads of soul, rock, hip-hop, funk, jazz, and pop, drawn together by themes of friendship, resilience, and positivity. But while they often say things like “everything is gonna be ok” and “take it easy”, they’re not just empty lines to sell records, these feelings are expressed by ordinary people and born from real life struggles, be it feeling lonely in a big world, dealing with the rising cost of living, or worrying about what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. There’s a sense of reality and authenticity because the singing is honest and heartfelt yet laid back and gentle. The sound isn’t over-produced or melodramatic. So the messages actually land and resonate, you can believe in the love and friendship they speak of.
Another way to interpret this album is to think of it like a stage musical with hand-made props and painted backdrops. Scenes are set for characters to step forward and sing a song about a life experience or something they’re going through. It could be one character trying to cheer up and give advice to another (Better Days), a gentle love song (Ocean You, Chilly), or even an uplifting gospel number (Shout). Another character, in this case the guitarist, has a funk song complaining about the Cheap Yen, worried that he won’t be able to take care of his family. There’s the mission statement dance song where the group promises they won’t ever stop putting a smile on your face (WWTIS). And then of course there are the big ensemble pieces like GOKIGEN, where they tell you to be positive - even if you’re tired of life or dumped by your girlfriend, everything’s gonna be alright because your friends are here for you. True to the nature of a collective, there is something for everyone.
In the spirit of wala, you’re free to listen to this album if you want to or not. Maybe you’ll give it a go and forget about it, then revisit it someday on a moonlit night or an afternoon walk. It might not be a chart-topper or statement piece (other than to say “this is us”), but perhaps it’s the aural equivalent of a warm blanket or a shoulder to lean on whenever you need it. In other words, it’s a companion for life, and a good one at that.
Tokyo ON also recommends: S.A.R - Verse of the Kool