Audiopile Review: With humble beginnings in the cassette underground, Japanese house producer Soshi Takeda has been on an incredible ascent that has recently seen his initial run of three cassettes reissued to vinyl. And now 100% Silk have banked on his this widening appreciation with a jump straight to vinyl for his newest full length, his fourth in as many years. Further refining his distinct permutation of ambient and house, Secret Communication feels like both a notable leap forward for Takeda while he simultaneously carries on the tradition of the greats of Japanese house like Soichi Terada, Shinichiro Yokota and Kuniyuki Takahashi. Sure, it’s a well-worn combo that ticks all the boxes—lush pads, melancholic piano, humid synths and a buoyant groove, one that leans on the hallmarks of classic deep house, but Takeda’s graceful and airy touch elevate this well above the simplistic or even formulaic. His daydream propulsions attain an effortlessness that so many producers take years, if not their whole career, to pull off. Another top-shelf from Takeda, who, when the dust settles and the history books of Japanese house music are written, will go down as one of the finest to ever do it. Huge recommendation.

Tokyo deep house master Soshi Takeda returns with a long-awaited six-song sequel to 2021’s landmark Floating Mountains, surfing deeper into mystery, motion, and liquid dreams: Secret Communication. Recorded across 2022 and 2023 at his home studio with a unique assemblage of 80’s and 90’s hardware, the tracks cruise through a latticework of skyways on lush pads, bubbling bass, and blissed BPMs, dusted in sunrise acid and cosmic piano. His is a dance music of idyllic emotions and inner worlds, yearning for new horizons.

Dramatic events overlapped with the album’s creation: “Wars broke out. On the other hand, my child was born. There were sad and beautiful moments in my life.” Secret Communication contains vistas, valleys, glimpses of lives unled, swirling above the grey noise of the city. From the jazzy daydream of “Can Imagination Transcend Distance?” to the sleek starlight house of “Rainstorm” to the farewell ecstasy of the title track, Takeda’s music touches and transports, a portal to places beyond. Fantasy and feeling, intention and inspiration, all become one: “When I listen to beautiful deep house, I feel a mysterious atmosphere. Dreamy scenes come to mind. I aim to create that sound.”