Biography
Since the 1970s Phew has charted an independent course through rock, electronic, and avant-garde music, maintaining her singular vision across a long career. Once she departed the groundbreaking Japanese punk outfit Aunt Sally, she joined forces with an international roster of forward-thinking musicians to illuminate every facet of her creative range. For the 1980 solo debut single she enlisted Ryuichi Sakamoto, then turned to Can members for both 1981’s Phew and 1992’s Our Likeness, albums that demonstrated how her commanding voice and experimental instincts could stand alongside her partners’ tradition of confronting listeners. After the atmospheric 1995 release Himitsu No Knife, outside projects took precedence; work with the Japanese experimental supergroup Novo Tono, the punk band Most, and multiple endeavors alongside Otomo Yoshihide occupied her through the 2000s. Returning to solo work in the early 2010s, she produced some of her most arresting material, moving from the playful 2010 covers set Five Finger Discount to stark soundscapes built around her unmistakable vocals on uncompromising statements such as 2015’s A New World and 2017’s Light Sleep. With the hypnotic 2021 album New Decade, Phew at last garnered the worldwide recognition long due her.
Born Hiromi Moritani in Osaka, she first immersed herself in punk during the 1970s, traveling to London in 1977 specifically to witness the Sex Pistols. Back home she assembled Aunt Sally with guitarist Bikke, keyboardist Mayu, bassist Kataoka, and drummer Takashi Maruyama; the group disbanded shortly after issuing its 1979 self-titled debut, pressed in a limited run of 400 copies. To launch her solo identity she collaborated with Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Ryuichi Sakamoto—an Aunt Sally admirer—who produced the 1980 single “Finale/Urahara,” while Phew in turn guested on Sakamoto’s “Shuukyoku.” That same year she also contributed to singer/songwriter and actor Agata Morio’s album Norimono Zukan. For her debut full-length she recorded at Conny Plank’s German studio with Can’s Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, Plank serving as producer; the largely improvised 1981 album Phew drew acclaim for its vivid blend of electronics and post-punk as well as Phew’s Nico-like vocals.
She resurfaced in 1987 with View, tempering avant-garde leanings with pop refinement, then issued the atmospheric 1991 EP Songs. Signing with Mute, she delivered 1992’s Our Likeness, again involving Plank and Liebezeit plus Alexander Hacke and Chrislo Haas across its expansive experiments. Throughout the remainder of the ’90s she stayed active, first teaming with Anton Fier on 1993’s Dreamspeed and 1994’s Blind Light, then issuing her third album, Himitsu no Knife, in 1995. That record’s mix of challenging and accessible tracks featured Otomo Yoshihide and Tatsuo Kondo among her collaborators; the same year she and Kondo supplied a cover of Blondie’s “Sunday Girl” to the compilation Megabank Presents Tribute to New Wave. Soon afterward Phew joined Yoshihide, Boredoms’ Seiichi Yamamoto, drummer Masahiro Uemura, and others to form the boundary-dissolving collective Novo Tono, whose debut Panorama Paradise appeared in 1996. Two years later Yamamoto and Phew released Shiwase No Sumika, a comparatively melodic collection. In 1999 the pair joined Yoshihide for Otomo Yoshihide Plays the Music of Takeo Yamashita, a tribute to the television composer that also included Haco, Sachiko M, and additional figures from Tokyo’s underground.
Entering the 2000s she maintained a vigorous collaborative pace. She opened the decade with Big Picture, an electronic project alongside Hiroyuki Nagashima (of the duo Dowser) that issued its self-titled debut in 2001. That year also brought a Novo Tono tour, a single with the German electronic duo the Unknown Cases titled “Kôyasan / Mishiho,” and the self-titled debut from Most, her punk band with Yamamoto. The next year she appeared on Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Ensemble album Dreams, while Most delivered its second album in 2003. Several years later she resurfaced in 2009 with Phew X Bikke, a duo album alongside her former Aunt Sally bandmate. In 2010 Most reconvened for its third album, Most Notorious, featuring Yoshihide and Sachiko M.
She simultaneously revived her solo trajectory that year with Five Finger Discount, a widely praised covers collection that included Jim O’Rourke on bass. The following year she partnered with visual artist and novelist Erika Kobayashi on Project Undark Radium Girls, an album recounting radiation-sickness history that incorporated music by Cluster’s Dieter Moebius. As scheduling conflicts complicated work with her other ensembles, Phew elevated solo activity to her central focus. Employing vintage electronics to frame her vocals, she began issuing a series of self-released, self-titled albums in 2014, initially available only at live shows; those pieces functioned as blueprints for the 2015 album A New World. While touring in 2016 she released another show-only recording, Jamming. In 2017 she collaborated with Alrahim Wright III on Here’s a Pheww and issued Light Sleep, a set of austere electronic works, via Mesh-Key. For 2018’s Voice Hardcore she shaped processed vocal layers into six compositions; that year she also joined the Raincoats’ Ana Da Silva for the album Island. The next year brought Patience Soup, a live document of a 2015 performance with O’Rourke and Oren Ambarchi, plus Vertical Jamming, containing two extended pieces drawn from Jamming.
Opening the 2020s she sustained her steady output. Alongside “ahhh,” a track created with da Silva and prompted by COVID-19 isolation, she released the 2020 mini-album Can You Keep It Down, Please? (music originally composed for a 2018 exhibition at New Zealand’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery) and Vertigo KO, a Disciples collection of recordings from the Light Sleep and Voice Hardcore sessions. In 2021 Backfire of Joy, documenting a 1982 performance with Kondo and John Duncan, preceded the album New Decade. Her first studio effort in four years and first Mute release in nearly three decades, the record’s haunting electronics and vocals extended the methods of Light Sleep and Vertigo KO while contemplating the experience of time. February 2023 saw Mute reissue Our Likeness, restoring the album to availability after more than thirty years.
Born Hiromi Moritani in Osaka, she first immersed herself in punk during the 1970s, traveling to London in 1977 specifically to witness the Sex Pistols. Back home she assembled Aunt Sally with guitarist Bikke, keyboardist Mayu, bassist Kataoka, and drummer Takashi Maruyama; the group disbanded shortly after issuing its 1979 self-titled debut, pressed in a limited run of 400 copies. To launch her solo identity she collaborated with Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Ryuichi Sakamoto—an Aunt Sally admirer—who produced the 1980 single “Finale/Urahara,” while Phew in turn guested on Sakamoto’s “Shuukyoku.” That same year she also contributed to singer/songwriter and actor Agata Morio’s album Norimono Zukan. For her debut full-length she recorded at Conny Plank’s German studio with Can’s Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, Plank serving as producer; the largely improvised 1981 album Phew drew acclaim for its vivid blend of electronics and post-punk as well as Phew’s Nico-like vocals.
She resurfaced in 1987 with View, tempering avant-garde leanings with pop refinement, then issued the atmospheric 1991 EP Songs. Signing with Mute, she delivered 1992’s Our Likeness, again involving Plank and Liebezeit plus Alexander Hacke and Chrislo Haas across its expansive experiments. Throughout the remainder of the ’90s she stayed active, first teaming with Anton Fier on 1993’s Dreamspeed and 1994’s Blind Light, then issuing her third album, Himitsu no Knife, in 1995. That record’s mix of challenging and accessible tracks featured Otomo Yoshihide and Tatsuo Kondo among her collaborators; the same year she and Kondo supplied a cover of Blondie’s “Sunday Girl” to the compilation Megabank Presents Tribute to New Wave. Soon afterward Phew joined Yoshihide, Boredoms’ Seiichi Yamamoto, drummer Masahiro Uemura, and others to form the boundary-dissolving collective Novo Tono, whose debut Panorama Paradise appeared in 1996. Two years later Yamamoto and Phew released Shiwase No Sumika, a comparatively melodic collection. In 1999 the pair joined Yoshihide for Otomo Yoshihide Plays the Music of Takeo Yamashita, a tribute to the television composer that also included Haco, Sachiko M, and additional figures from Tokyo’s underground.
Entering the 2000s she maintained a vigorous collaborative pace. She opened the decade with Big Picture, an electronic project alongside Hiroyuki Nagashima (of the duo Dowser) that issued its self-titled debut in 2001. That year also brought a Novo Tono tour, a single with the German electronic duo the Unknown Cases titled “Kôyasan / Mishiho,” and the self-titled debut from Most, her punk band with Yamamoto. The next year she appeared on Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Ensemble album Dreams, while Most delivered its second album in 2003. Several years later she resurfaced in 2009 with Phew X Bikke, a duo album alongside her former Aunt Sally bandmate. In 2010 Most reconvened for its third album, Most Notorious, featuring Yoshihide and Sachiko M.
She simultaneously revived her solo trajectory that year with Five Finger Discount, a widely praised covers collection that included Jim O’Rourke on bass. The following year she partnered with visual artist and novelist Erika Kobayashi on Project Undark Radium Girls, an album recounting radiation-sickness history that incorporated music by Cluster’s Dieter Moebius. As scheduling conflicts complicated work with her other ensembles, Phew elevated solo activity to her central focus. Employing vintage electronics to frame her vocals, she began issuing a series of self-released, self-titled albums in 2014, initially available only at live shows; those pieces functioned as blueprints for the 2015 album A New World. While touring in 2016 she released another show-only recording, Jamming. In 2017 she collaborated with Alrahim Wright III on Here’s a Pheww and issued Light Sleep, a set of austere electronic works, via Mesh-Key. For 2018’s Voice Hardcore she shaped processed vocal layers into six compositions; that year she also joined the Raincoats’ Ana Da Silva for the album Island. The next year brought Patience Soup, a live document of a 2015 performance with O’Rourke and Oren Ambarchi, plus Vertical Jamming, containing two extended pieces drawn from Jamming.
Opening the 2020s she sustained her steady output. Alongside “ahhh,” a track created with da Silva and prompted by COVID-19 isolation, she released the 2020 mini-album Can You Keep It Down, Please? (music originally composed for a 2018 exhibition at New Zealand’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery) and Vertigo KO, a Disciples collection of recordings from the Light Sleep and Voice Hardcore sessions. In 2021 Backfire of Joy, documenting a 1982 performance with Kondo and John Duncan, preceded the album New Decade. Her first studio effort in four years and first Mute release in nearly three decades, the record’s haunting electronics and vocals extended the methods of Light Sleep and Vertigo KO while contemplating the experience of time. February 2023 saw Mute reissue Our Likeness, restoring the album to availability after more than thirty years.
Albums
Vertical Jamming
2022
New Decade
2021
Vertigo KO
2020
Island
2018
Voice Hardcore
2018
Here's A Pheww
2017
Light Sleep
2017
Our Likeness
1995
Singles
