Single Review: Lucio Moriyama

A slightly unusual post, this one, as I’m going to go through a couple of singles which we’ve had sent to use over the last few months by guitar soloist Lucio Moriyama. He’s building up towards an album release later this year – Horizon, out on March 31st.

The singles “Dirty Heart” and “Champagne” are out now, with “Neon Tokyo” to follow on March 16th. Across the three there is a definite Joe Satriani influence, along with something of Moriyama’s heritage. He’s based in Brazil, but comes from “Brazil/Japan” and the sounds of the Far East permeate the riffs in the slow, heartwarming (appropriately) “Dirty Heart”. Starting off quite mellow, it throws some blistering fretwork at you, but there’s some lovely Japanese sounds. The main guitar manages it for a little, but as you get towards the end it’s the bassier background tones that perhaps evoke more of a Mongolian feel (based on bands such as The Hu and Tengger Cavalry).

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“Champagne” is a little more mainstream; a fizzy, flowing, bubbly rocker which really lives up to its name. There’s a nice mix of clean electric lead, and acoustic chords as rhythm which takes over as the track comes to an end.

Both of the above tracks are available to listen to on Soundcloud and Spotify right now.

The one you can’t hear yet is “Neon Tokyo” which is a big grander in scale. The sounds are beefier and more majestic, and there are some cool “zooming” effects kicking about. Nothing too silly, just enough to give a sci-fi feel to the piece. It’s the kind of music you could imagine at the end of an 80s TV show, where the cast turn and smile at the camera and their name appears at the bottom before they freeze frame. I appreciate that’s oddly specific, but that’s really what came to my mind!

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Overall what impresses me most about these three songs, other than the musicianship, is the variety. To mention Satchmo again, he’s always been able to try anything and still have his own signature sound. Moriyama seems to be on the same lines with the same ideals. I’d not say he’s nailed a sound that’s “his” yet, but this is only a small sample of his output. From this brief peek into his creative mind, I’m very much looking forward to hearing what else he crams onto Horizon.

Header image by Dani Sandrini

Check out all the bands we review in 2021 on our Spotify and YouTube playlists!

Lucio Moriyama: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | bandcamp | soundcloud | spotify | youtube