HINABI Takes the Long Way: Inside the Voice, the Band and the Craft of “VOL II: KURATA”

A song can now be made in about five minutes. Type a prompt, pick a mood, and software will return a verse, a chorus and a vocal that sounds roughly human. HINABI, the power vocalist and author who posts as @hinabimusic, is working at the opposite speed. Earlier this year she became an award-winning gold medalist in a European competition as a vocalist and composer, competing against sopranos and classical musicians.

HINABI says her unreleased cinematic pop-rock record, VOL II: KURATA, made with her band HINA.BAND, has been written, taken apart and written again until the music says what the words mean. It starts rolling out soon. Until then, the record’s world lives on Instagram, at @hinabimusic and at @volii.kurata.

Her songs, their sound

Before she sings a note, there is her speaking voice. When HINABI talks about love, it is low and unhurried. That speaking voice only hints at her lower octaves. Her singing goes much further. RENEGADE, her upcoming winter song, showcases a wide dynamic vocal range, and the distance between the close, quiet voice of her narration and the top of that range is a large part of the record’s approach.

On VOL II: KURATA, the songs start with her. HINABI says that she writes the lyrics, the melodies and the foundational sound. When it came time to involve her band, what she asked of them was unusual. Rather than handing over parts to play, she asked them to bring their own musical language and fit it inside hers.

“There’s a highly demanding ask for the HINA.BAND”, she says. “Our language is music and so I asked them to show me their music and build their sound within HINABI. Make the music where my voice can be beautifully engulfed in”.

The record is produced by DK (Do Hyun Kim), who claims to be the producer behind more than 190 K-pop, pop and EDM credits, with post-production and mastering by Stephen DeAcutis (Stevie D), whose credits include Cyndi Lauper and Corey Glover.

HINA.BAND

The band has two players, and both describe their job as serving her music. The surprise is the bass. In most pop-rock, the bass sits under the song and holds the floor. In HINA.BAND, bassist Krzysztof “Kaye” Syposz carries the melodies, so an instrument usually felt more than heard ends up singing alongside her. Syposz is a Mike Lull artist whose work includes Joel Culpepper and Kay Young, as well as Blue Note Re:imagined II.

“HINABI is cool!”, says Syposz. After years of session work, he says this band feels different. “Being a session musician for years has been cool, but it’s usually at the command and direction of someone else and what they’re looking for”, he says. “It is amazing to be part of a band again rather than a gun for hire, as creating and crafting the whole song is so much deeper, because it’s your own and not ‘for someone else’”.

Behind the kit is Dylan Youles, the drummer and band leader. He says he graduated from ICMP with First Class Honours, plays a hybrid setup with pads, triggers and an SPD-SX, and counts Jaz Beeson’s Petrol Receipts among his credits.

“Drawing on my experience in pop and rock settings, I want to curate a sound that feels both authentic and emotionally resonant, creating a musical landscape that allows HINABI’s stories of love to be told with honesty, depth, and nuance”, Youles says. “My aim is to bring together the textures and energy of these genres in a way that serves her artistry, capturing the many dimensions of love while allowing her voice and stories to shine through”.

What the songs are for

HINABI believes in true love, plainly, and says so. Her view of romance is practical. In a swipe culture, another match is always one thumb away, and it is easy to start treating people as options. HINABI takes the other side. She does not believe a perfect person arrives and makes everything easy. People come to love already shaped by childhood, old relationships and fear, and meeting someone brings all of that to the surface. For her, finding someone is the romantic part. Staying together is the work, and true love is worth the wait.