BOSNIAN LOFI PRODUCER SHARES NEW LP ‘VINDU, THE GAIJIN’

Today, European lofi producer Vindu shares his new album Vindu, the Gaijin. While the Bosnian producer has long found inspiration in Japan and Japanese culture, this 14-track body of work was created after Vindu’s first trip to Japan, which he embarked on in part to propose to his now-fianceé.

“Gaijin means a foreigner in Japanese,” Vindu shares of the title. “I felt like Japan was my second home, or my home in some past life but now, I feel like a foreigner who is always welcomed there, in the mysterious and colorful lands of the rising sun. The album has that feeling of how it is to be a foreigner in Japan, exactly how I felt when I visited it for the first time now!”

Vindu, the Gaijin follows a string of recent projects that paid tribute to Japan; the 2021 LP Farewell Tokyo, the 4-EP “Stories from Japan” series, and the 2-EP “Tales of Asia” series. While he did all he could to channel the energy of the country, taking inspiration from the teachings of Zen, the music of Nujabes and the lush and peaceful sounds of Japanese instruments, he learned in Japan that there was truly no substitute for the real thing.

“Farewell Tokyo was an experimental album for me,” Vindu explains, “more oriented towards boom bap and chillhop rather than usual lofi hiphop. It was created to evoke a feeling of being in Japan during technological development, around late 80s, 90s and early 2000s, the golden era of hip-hop,  while “Stories From Japan” was a saga meant to slow the pace down, with more usage of traditional instruments, such as Shakuhachi and Koto, to evoke feelings of tradition and honor that have been a part of Japanese culture since ancient times.”

In addition to finally experiencing the portraits of Japanese life his music has alluded to over the years (“Sakura Temple,” “Kado, the Way of Flowers,” “Morning Coffee in Hakone”), Vindu also introduced new techniques in his latest work, such as modularity and finding the perfect grainy texture for each beat. When listening to Vindu, the Gaijin, it’s clear that the music is coming from an artist who’s just had a transformative experience. With the renewed sense of purpose he now carries from the trip, Vindu could very well encourage listeners to journey to their own dream destination.

He leaves off: “Imagine making your whole career about a place you have never been to, yet felt so connected to! And now, imagine a feeling of being there, seeing everything with your own eyes, feeling it with every sense. Exploring every single alley, every temple and every place that has connection to my music has been so life changing.”

Vindu, the Gaijin is available at digital retailers here: https://vindu.ffm.to/vinduthegaijin