{"id":29919,"date":"2025-08-21T05:30:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T09:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=29919"},"modified":"2025-08-18T10:52:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T14:52:00","slug":"album-review-yuka-chronoship-ribbon-butterfly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/21\/album-review-yuka-chronoship-ribbon-butterfly\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Yuka & Chronoship \u2013 Ribbon Butterfly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Released in 2015, The 3<\/i>rd<\/i><\/sup> Plantary Chronicles<\/i><\/a> was the third album from Japan\u2019s Yuka & Chronoship<\/a>. Yuka\u2019s brand of neo-prog on that album was a remarkable synthesis of classic motifs, rock power and Keith Emerson-level musicianship. 2018\u2019s Ship<\/i> was also quite good. After its release, seven years went by (at least to the knowledge of this reviewer) without another word from the outfit.<\/p>\n

Happily, that quiet period has ended with the release of Ribbon Butterfly<\/i>. The new album follows on with Yuka Funakoshi\u2019s strong melodic sense, presenting tunes rooted in accessible form but with the requisite sonic texture, muscular playing and inventive arrangement demanded by fans of progressive rock.<\/p>\n

Yuka\u2019s sparkling keyboards as \u2013 as ever \u2013 at the center of the proceedings, but her fellow players contribute quite a bit of what makes the album interesting as well. Musically, the album is \u2013 in spots \u2013 reminiscent of Yes\u2019 Drama<\/i><\/a>, albeit with a lighter touch (in terms of sensibility, not power). Yuka\u2019s lovely vocals are effectively employed as an instrument, so while there are lyrics, the sound of her voce is of more importance than the words. Takashi Miyazawa\u2019s fiery guitar leads giver the music a sharp edge, one that never belies the music\u2019s sophistication. Rather, it builds upon that foundation.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s rhythm section \u2013 Shun Taguchi on bass and drummer Ikko Tanaka \u2013 lay down an impeccable and thunderous bed upon which Yuka spreads her creamy keyboards \u2013 lots of glistening piano, melodramatic Mellotron and searing synth \u2013 and the album even folds in bits of folk (or folk-leading, folk-adjacent) textures on cuts like the vaguely Gentle Giant-ish \u201cAunt Clairvoyance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wobbly string synth \u2013 possibly Chamberlin \u2013 on \u201cChronofish\u201d \u2013 adds a breathtaking and cinematic quality to the song. The undulating, crashing waves help, too. And Taguchi\u2019s bass pushes to surpelement melodic tune forward with intensity. A few minutes in, the tracks takes an unexpected<\/p>\n

9but very welcome) turn. Yuka plays with a jazz inflection rarely heard in her other work.<\/p>\n

Acoustic elements (see \u201cChildren of Yewtree\u201d) give the album a lovely and organic flavor, one often absent on prog excursions. But they\u2019re expertly balanced \u2013 counterpointed, even \u2013 with more modern and electronic sounds, creating a lively hybrid that works; think of Steve Howe\u2019s \u201cClap\u201d combined somehow with \u201cClose to the Edge\u201d and you\u2019ll get the idea.<\/p>\n

To Anglophone listeners, the song titles might smack of Guided by Voices: \u201cHourglass Cove,\u201d \u201cPolar Dark.\u201d But the album\u2019s primarily instrumental approach means that such ideas are merely a distraction. It\u2019s the music that counts here, and with Ribbon Butterfly<\/i>, Yuka & Chronoship have crafted a superb album. While a U.S. tour seems unlikely, here\u2019s hoping at least that Yuka and her musical comrades will gift listeners with another gem in less than seven years.<\/p>\n

Ribbon Butterfly<\/i> is hereby shortlisted for my Best of 2025 list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Released in 2015, The 3rd Plantary Chronicles was the third album from Japan\u2019s Yuka & Chronoship. Yuka\u2019s brand of neo-prog on that album was a remarkable synthesis of classic motifs, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,56,62,65],"tags":[2616,3637],"class_list":["post-29919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-prog","category-rawk","category-review","tag-yuka-chronoship","tag-yuka-funakoshi","cat-49-id","cat-56-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29921,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29919\/revisions\/29921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}