Release Date: October 19, 2025
Label: Independent
Aco Takenaka, a brilliant singer-songwriter from Tokyo, captivates audiences with her unique blend of alternative, ambient, folk, and New Age music. This combination of genres, deeply rooted in diverse cultural traditions, creates a world-new age sound that is both unique and culturally enriching. With her vivid, expressive voice, she draws listeners in, creating a profoundly personal musical experience that is rich in diverse cultural influences.
My journey with this artist began in August when I had the privilege of covering her first single from the recording “Oxum” on the recently released Ancient Seeds. This experience left a profound impact on me, and I am excited to share it with you.
Aco’s vocal range is superb for these tracks and their meaning. Her sense of rhythm and tempo feels connected to esoteric things. The inflection of her vocals during these tracks sounds like a combination of Japanese and American Indian; it’s exciting.
“Ame Kuni” leads off, accentuating her incredible vocalizations backed with harmonizations of her own voice. As instruments enter the mix, it gets more layered and prolific. Tribal drums sound off, and a synth is added intermittently as she repeats the phrase, serving as a fixed point of concentration for relaxation, introspection, or a gradual meditative state. Ame-no-Minakanushi is a deity in Japanese mythology, portrayed in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki as one of the first deities to manifest when heaven and Earth came into existence.
“Tate Yorinaka” conveys, through its repetition, the feeling that you are one with Mother Earth herself.
Tate Yurianaka, Tate Yurianaka,
Camu Ne Iyari, Camu Ne Iyari,
Tate Yurianaka!
(Possible translation: “Mother Earth, I offer my Heart” — or “Here, You have my heart.”)
As you hear the inflections from an ancient time, they begin to take hold and gain more significance once the repetitive phrasing ends and a flute enters the mix. Then the music subsides, the phrasing returns, and, for a short time, the music is added to the significance, meaning, and purpose.
“Wani Wachi Elo” (“Wani wachiyélo”) is a Huichol song that connects with the Great Spirit — a sacred chant to unite with the Divine Source of Life and Wisdom. The native flute is a perfect companion to this ancient phrase.
Wani Wachi Elo, Wani Wachi Elo,
Wakan Ka Taya, Wakan Ka Taya
(Possible translation: “Oh Great Spirit, I want to live.”)
“Oxum”, also known as Oshun, is a goddess in Yoruba religion associated with fresh water, love, fertility, beauty, and sensuality. Her name means “Sweet Water,” and she is revered for her nurturing qualities and connection to femininity. You will hear the water in this track to enhance one of the meanings. It captured my imagination when I first heard it.
Listening again did not change that feeling; it was a reminder of how different this is for me to hear music and vocals sung so beautifully in a genre where it is usually instrumental. It moved me even though I could not understand the language; I found out what it meant, listened, and found more meaning.
“Iyalawa” is another one sung to Mother Earth, in Yoruba. It helps us embrace the profound warmth and nurturing essence of the Great Mother — the abundant source of all life.
“O Mama Bakudala” is a South African song that translates to "The mothers from way back used to pray." It is often sung to honor ancestors and invoke spiritual presence during gatherings. And right at the beginning, it sounds like it originates there, in Africa. The vocalizations and rhythmic drums are spot on.
“Om Mani Padme Hum” is a six-syllable mantra in Buddhism that translates roughly to “praise to the jewel in the lotus.” It symbolizes the union of method (compassion) and wisdom, essential for achieving enlightenment.
As we traverse the world in search of various spiritual meanings and practices, the angelic voice carries the message home. She repeats the mantra, the bell rings, symbolizing the clarity and purity of the Buddha’s teachings and helping focus the mind and create a peaceful atmosphere for meditation. The sound also serves as a reminder of the impermanence of all things, encouraging mindfulness in practice. This is absolute and beautiful perfection with no attachments to weigh you down; your freedom awaits.
“Ramadasa” is a powerful mantra that has many benefits. It can help to increase positive vibrations, release negative emotions, balance the mind, body, and soul, eliminate negative karmas, and awaken Kundalini energy.
A soft acoustic guitar accompanies Aco in this track, and the addition to her voice is an excellent choice. Her voice leads you down the path to enlightenment as it has in all the previous tracks. I enjoy it so much when she sings in the singular sense, then her other layer is added to make it sound like a choir of her own voice. It is so absorbing and exquisite.
“Lokah” is a Sanskrit word that translates to “universe,” “realm,” or “location,” and it refers to all beings or worlds existing within that space. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of all life and the shared experience of existence.
The music begins to go in a different direction here: there is a flute and what sounds like a sitar, then it changes enough to sound like a guitar at times. The layers of sound are fascinating, and Aco’s voice echoes with resonance and meaning once again—compelling change in sound and approach.
“Kukurihime Hime” no Kami, also Kukurihime no Mikoto, is a Japanese Shinto goddess venerated as Shirayama Hime at Shirayama Hime Shrine in Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture.
It starts with the resonating and echoing tribal drums as Aco begins her phrasing; it is magical and mesmerizing. If that is the intent here, it works wonderfully. The drums sound like the goddess’s steps as she moves closer, with additional sounds added. Sounding ancient, ritualistic, and something created in the heavens.
“Tohokami Emitame” (“To Ho Ka Mi”) has multiple meanings, which Aco shared with me.
Primarily, it refers to the ten deities who were present at the dawn of life — beings who dwell somewhere within every family lineage, representing enlightened ancestors or the divine source of life itself.
These eight syllables carry multiple layers of
meaning. One aspect is the power to shatter all thoughts — to break sound
itself into its finest particles, purifying even the meanings within. In doing
so, they cleanse the personal mind, the inherited mind, and the habitual
patterns of the
human mind, returning everything to the light of the very beginning. They also purify the entire lineage of one’s physical ancestors, allowing us to receive their protection and blessings. Reaching back to ancient times — from the origin of life to this very moment — they cleanse and bless the whole ancestral line.
And this invocation brings forth blessings beyond comprehension, across all dimensions, for those who open themselves to receive.
As your spiritual journey ends, you begin a new chapter transformed in mind, body, and spirit. Yes, it can be that prolific if you take a moment to understand the meaning of each track. Aco Takenaka’s voice is the most potent instrument on Ancient Seeds. Everything else is a musical coloring that completes and ties together the divergent compositions.
Keith
“MuzikMan” Hannaleck-NAMR Review Founder
October
28, 2025
Tracks:
01. Ame Kuni (04:08)
02. Tate Yorinaka (05:14)
03. Wani Wachi Elo (03:41)
04. Oxum (05:12)
05. Iyalawa (04:41)
06. O Mama Bakudala (03:32)
07. Om Mani Padme Hum (03:59)
08. Ramadasa (06:43)
09. Lokah (06:23)
10. Kukuri Hime (05:55)
11. Tohokami Emitame (04:31)
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