Lullatone is a Japanese musical duo based in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, whose music is characterized by an innocent, childlike quality and spare,

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

sounds. Although the group refers to their style of music as "pajama-pop", it is commonly included in such musical subgenres as

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...

. It is influenced by such diverse sources as bossa nova,

French pop music French pop music is pop music sung in the French language. It is usually performed by singers from France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, or any of the other francophone areas of the world. The target audience is the francophone market (primaril ...

of the 1960s,

children's song A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied ...

s and musique concrète.

History

Lullatone's founder was Shawn James Seymour, a native of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. Its other principal member is Japanese native Yoshimi Tomida. Seymour began musical experimentation during his high school years in the late-1990s, using keyboards and cassette tape recorders. He and Tomida met while both were attending Bellarmine University; she as an exchange student from Japan. They soon became romantically involved and when Tomida's visa was due to expire, Seymour decided to return with her to Japan. In the small apartment they shared in Japan, Seymour began composing music late at night while Tomida slept. So as not to disturb her, the songs he created were lullabies. This was the origin of the name "Lullatone", which is also a reference to

Raymond Scott Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow; September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994) was an American composer, band leader, pianist, record producer, and inventor of electronic instruments. Though Scott never scored cartoon soundtracks, his music is ...

's 1964 album '' Soothing Sounds for Baby''. Seymour and Tomida married in 2005. With Seymour playing a variety of instruments, from the inexpensive

Casio SK-1 The Casio SK-1 is a small sampling keyboard made by Casio in 1985. It has 32 small sized piano keys, four-note polyphony, with a sampling bit depth of 8 bit PCM and a sample rate of 9.38 kHz for 1.4 seconds, a built-in microphone and line level ...

sampling keyboard to the glockenspiel,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usua ...

, recorders and other compact and simple instruments, and Tomida providing the vocals in both Japanese and English, they recorded their first album in 2003, titled ''Computer Recital'' (on the Audio Dregs subsidiary Darla Records). The record was immediately greeted with critical acclaim, garnering considerable attention and reviews from music magazines and independent music blogs such as ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

''. Lullatone followed ''Computer Recital'' with ''My Petit Melodies'' on Japan's Childisc Records, ''Little Songs about Raindrops'' in 2005, ''Plays Pajama Pop Pour Vous'' in 2006 (both on Audio Dregs), and a self-produced tour EP in 2007 to celebrate their first US tour.

Members

* Shawn James Seymour – vocals, keyboards, percussion, miscellaneous instruments * Yoshimi Tomida – vocals, percussion, miscellaneous instruments

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Computer Recital'' (2003) * ''My Petit Melodies'' (2003) * ''Little Songs About Raindrops'' (2004) * ''Plays Pajama Pop Pour Vous'' (2006) * ''The Bedtime Beat'' (2008) * ''Songs That Spin in Circles'' (2009) * ''Looping Lullabies'' (2010) * ''Elevator Music'' (2011) * ''Soundtracks for Everyday Adventures'' (2011) * ''Alarms & Ringers'' (2011) * ''Thinking About Thursdays'' (2016) * ''Music for Museum Gift Shops'' (2019)

Compilation albums

* ''We Will Rock You... To Sleep: An Introduction to Lullatone'' (2009)

Extended plays

* ''Music for Apartments (2003) * ''Summer Songs'' (2013) * ''Falling for Autumn'' (2013) * ''While Winter Whispers'' (2014) * ''The Sounds of Spring'' (2015) * ''Houseplant Music'' (2020)

External links

* {{Authority control Ambient music groups Electronic music duos Japanese indie pop groups Japanese electronic music groups Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups from Aichi Prefecture