Midori Hirano has shared the celestial new single “Illuminance,” taken from her upcoming album OTONOMA, out on Feb. 20th, 2026. The piece’s rich textures dot a skyline of warm drones with brightly arpeggiating constellations subtly reordering themselves with each iteration as chords swell beneath.
Hirano elaborates on how the track’s melding of spontaneous inspiration and compositional focus became a driving force on OTONOMA:
“This piece became the spark for the whole album. In a way, it laid the foundation for everything that followed. The piece came about rather spontaneously while I was experimenting with my modular system and sequencer, when I happened to create a beautifully flowing arpeggio by chance. I recorded the modular synth melody while gradually changing the arpeggiator parameters, and later layered additional keyboard and software synths over it.”
The artistry of Midori Hirano lives in the resonance between sonic and visual worlds. Over her distinguished career the Berlin-based, Kyoto-born composer, pianist, and synthesist has crafted a distinctive voice straddling the spheres of classical music and harmonies with abstraction and invention. In addition to works under her own name, Hirano has released dynamic experiments under her MimiCof moniker as well as composed for film, television, art exhibitions and world expos. Hirano is acclaimed for crafting emotive works that stimulate all the senses with impressionism, or painting with sound. OTONOMA is the culmination of her work synthesizing these elements and highlights her acumen as a practiced and intuitive artist. The album infuses Hirano’s more classical sense of harmony on the piano with the endless textural possibilities of synthesizers. Like nebulas coalescing into galaxies, the pieces of OTONOMA emanate hues dense with subtle layers of color folded into gradients, arresting and radiant.
Throughout OTONOMA, Hirano’s compositions seep over their sonic borders and through the complex intersection of rhythm & tone are an affecting listen. The intersection between sound and space embodies the architecture of this beautiful impressionistic album. In the deft hands of its architect, Midori Hirano, the music is remarkable for its reflective and connective beauty, a sensational sensorial experience.
Hirano will be performing in Leuben in March just after the album’s release, as well as alongside labelmate Colleen at Silent Green in Berlin this coming May,
