An artist I discovered by accident when seeing Tanita Tikaram at Royal Festival Hall last November, Midori Jaeger instantly caught my attention with their distinctive style of playing the cello and the soothing allure of her vocals while playing in Tikaram’s band. Originally from Japan, and having played alongside the likes of Daughter and Courtney Pine, as well as Tikaram, she released her latest EP (Re)Planted this summer, showcasing her immersive, genre-defying sounds and poignant, insightful songwriting. Following its predecessor, (Un)Planted – which drew on themes of displacement and identity – this latest release reflects on Jaeger’s experiences of migration and mixed cultural heritage in a softer, more expansive way, drawing a parallel between the cello (once a living tree), and her own journey as a child uprooted several times and forced to build roots in different soils. It’s a truly beautiful collection, drawing you into Jaeger’s unique, captivating sounds and stirring heartfelt emotion.
We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, following the release of (Re)Planted, we caught up with Midori to find out about the five albums that have inspired her songwriting the most. Read about her five favourites below, listen to (Re)Planted, and come along to see her captivating performance at Stone Nest tomorrow!
Johann Sebastian Bach – 6 Suites for Solo Cello (played by Steven Isserlis)
I think my parents had this CD around and I added it to my iTunes library and listened to it on my iPod as a teenager. These pieces were way too hard for me to play myself at the time, and I remember thinking of them as a real marker of ‘grown-up’ cello playing, wondering if I would ever be able to get there, as I hated practising! Nowadays I play at least one of these pieces every day when I practise, and have done (on and off) for probably the last ten years, since I left music college. It’s the way the cello is so self-sufficient in them — covering harmony, rhythm, and melody, without compromising expressivity by sounding overly technical or cello-specific — that, over the years, has kept me going back. In turn, it’s probably instilled in me this idea that the cello can do everything. In my songs the cello is always the backbone, providing groove, rhythm, and harmony. I think without the example of solo cello music where the cello drives the fundamentals of the music (not only the Bach suites but also other pieces like Kodály Solo Cello sonata, Wellesz Solo Cello Sonata too), I might not have felt inclined to start creating my own cello music in this way.
James Taylor – Sweet Baby James
My dad gave me this CD when I was about fourteen, maybe along with a few others. Although I don’t think I necessarily consciously thought about it in a technical way at the time, I remember being struck by the simple arrangements that centred the acoustic guitar and voice. And the timbre of his voice is one I can just listen to endlessly (along with probably many other people!), though it’s exactly at that kind of spoken range that is impossible for me to sing along with! The identity of the songs seemed so contained within the guitar parts and vocals in a way that gave them such a uniqueness that didn’t get watered down by a produced ‘album version’. I imagine that really enjoying listening to these songs, where the raw and stripped-back recordings highlighted the writing, and doing so since a young age, probably had an influence on me choosing to write songs that originate from a prominent cello part and vocals only.
Saya Gray – 19 MASTERS
This was a more recent discovery that I’ve found conceptually inspiring. There’s a courage and assuredness that shines through this music, especially in the production. I get the sense that the artist really knows who she is and wants to be playful, which I absolutely love. She’s also of mixed Japanese heritage and there is clear influence from western classical music, which I also relate to. The songs are mostly in English but I really enjoy the little bits of spoken Japanese on this record which tap into a deep part of me and take me somewhere. I get a lot just from the solidarity of knowing that she’s also one of few female solo artists of our heritage to be doing this job. The music centres acoustic guitar and piano, whilst building a world of electronic and fun/extraneous sounds around that in a totally distinctive and imitable way, which I am realising is something I must really like!
Moses Sumney – grae
Moses Sumney is an artist I’ve respected since I first found out about him in 2020. It was partly knowing that he’d rejected several label offers that wanted to mould him into something he wasn’t, and partly the completely idiosyncratic nature of this album’s world that really drew me to it, mostly driven by the freedom of his singing. I don’t quite know how to describe it but his voice seems like much more than just ‘the vocals’ of the song, like a really far-reaching sonic representation of his musicality as a whole, or something. The album’s themes of multiplicity in various facets of identity also really spoke to me as a mixed-race, bilingual, queer artist who’s lived in different cultures, particularly the lyrics “I insist upon my right to be multiple”. I’d say this album provides conceptual inspiration to me as well as musical.
Madison Cunningham – Revealer
It’s the writing on this album that has pulled me in from the first time I heard it and keeps me going back! It’s rare for me to hear songs where it feels like the melodies, lyrics and chords are developing symbiotically with each other in such a natural way that my attention is totally gripped until the next section, and the next section. I get bored quickly when I listen to music. But Madison’s music always keeps me there as it seems she has so many tools to work with. I respect how the lyrics often jump from one quite specific image or object, to in the next line some kind of general statement or rhetorical question about life at large. I like that I never quite know exactly what she’s singing about, but there’s lots to connect with nonetheless and I enjoy the mystery of it. Madison’s music makes repeated listening really satisfying too, as I find new lyrical interpretations or melodic points to focus on even after years of listening to it. I suppose I connect with what I experience to be her lyrical style too, as I don’t often opt for super obvious lyrics. But then the beauty of it all is that of course somebody else might listen to her lyrics and find something very specific in there.
Huge thanks to Midori for sharing her Five Favourites!
Make sure you take a listen to (Re)Planted (and (Un)Planted), immersive yourself in its captivating beauty, and then nab tickets to come and see Midori Jaeger live tomorrow, 21st October, at Stone Nest in Shaftesbury Avenue. Tickets here.
Photo Credit: Inigo Blake
