Fuubutsushi has already released three albums in 2021, each part of the ambient-jazz quartet's tetralogy based on the seasons. Matthew Sage, Chris Jusell, Chaz Prymek and Patrick Shiroishi formed the group remotely (across different U.S. states) during the pandemic, editing improvisations into abstract yet accessible pieces of synesthetic nostalgia.

"Good Sky Day" stretches out the group's purpose in a 25-minute piece for Longform Editions, a Sydney-based label that focuses on deep listening experiences over extended periods of time. Jussel's melancholic violin plays the main character in a story that flies through cumulonimbus clouds out of a Miyasaki film. The music's free-flowing mood is a wonder to behold in its hail and thunder, heard in dissonant clashes of noisy drone and flickering feedback, only resolve in languid slide guitar and field recordings of children playing on the beach.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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