Rindert Lammers Thank You Kirin Kiki

Rindert Lammers' debut album is a heartfelt exploration of gratitude, blending personalnarratives with cinematic imagery in a serene and soulful ambient jazz style. Inspired byJapanese cinema and the raw authenticity of YouTube confessions, the album captures amood of introspection and appreciation. Central to the album is the track "Thank You, KirinKiki," which draws from a powerful scene in the film Shopliers. Lammers explains "It's oneof my favorites. The Japanese actress Kirin Kiki plays the grandmother of a `chosen family',all of whom have fled or lost their own families in some way. In this scene, one of her lastscenes before her (real) death, Kirin Kiki (the grandmother) looks at her family and says,'Thank You!' twice towards the children and the sea. Kirin Kiki improvised these words onthe spot, and it's such a poignant moment in the film, but also indicative of her impendingdeath. I found the gratitude so moving it fit perfectly with the gratitude I found in thevoiceclip from "Thank You Hiroshi Yoshimura."The fourth song, "Thank You Hiroshi Yoshimura," opens with a voice clip that acts almostas the protagonist of a film, reflecting on a turbulent time of sleeping in parks and on thestreets. This voiceover was inspired by a comment on a Hiroshi Yoshimura video onYouTube that began, "This album reminds me of_" Lammers noticed the deeply personalresponses le on these videos, so he recorded various similar YouTube comments frompeople around the world, initially intending to set them to music. Though much of thisidea evolved, this particular voice clip remained a central influence, ultimately inspiring acinematic journey within the album. "Summer in Shibuya" sets the scene as a trailer,"Opening Credits" introduces the narrative, and "Closing Credits" gently brings it to aclose.While there's a Japanese and Tokyo theme running through the tracks, Lammers doesn'tview the album as a tribute to Japan or Tokyo specifically_he's never visited and admits toknowing...