Glossolalia, the new two-song release from the New York-based producer Motion Graphics—real name: Joe Williams—and the Tokyo-based artist and vocalist Utena Kobayashi, is a pan-continental ambient pop masterclass. The record is full of textures, at once delicate and scintillating, that gently lift Kobayashi’s lilting vocals; this is music with more than a little magic, executed at a high level by two artists with deep CVs. We hit up Williams and Kobayashi and asked them some questions about the project. Read the interview and listen to Glossolalia below.

How did this collaboration come together? Were you familiar with each other’s music?

Utena Kobayashi: The collaboration began when I asked Joe to do a remix for my album released in 2021. My husband introduced me to Joe. During the process of working on the remix, the collaboration naturally developed.

Joe Williams: My friend Shin Nishigaki sent me Utena’s music to talk about doing a remix. My remix ended up being way different than the original track and I think it just gave everyone the idea to continue in that direction and pursue a release instead of a remix. 

I’m curious to know how these tracks were built—was there much of a back-and-forth to the process? 

Utena Kobayashi: The production process was very interesting. I sent Joe many vocal recordings, and remarkably, he was able to craft the tracks from there.

Joe Williams: The A-side vocals were all written in advance and I basically wrote a new structure to go along with Utena’s voice. The A-side and unreleased tracks were all recorded acappella and sent over. I would then write a rough arrangement with implied sections and Utena would record new vocals and overdubs to match the structure. There are some guitar textures and vocals from Atsushi Yamanaka on the A-side, and on the B-side, Utena plays the harp. 

Dip in the Pool was a big reference point for this record for me. I wanted to see if I could create a sound that resembled their record Silence, from 86, but with my own palette and hopefully a contemporary outlook to the production and palette. Seigen Ono, who produced DITP’s Silence, worked with a lot of New York artists like John Lurie and Arto Lindsay. That era of New York when the Kitchen was around, where bands were incorporating jazz and modern classical ideas was definitely on my mind with the approach to the production. 

Joe—What is your personal history with Japanese music? 

Joe Williams: Too many different ways to answer this one but I’ll try my best. I’ve been buying records from Japan since 2009 and spent a lot of time learning about the scene, what you would call technopop and its many permutations. I think I’m drawn to anything that ties into computer music history or technology in music in some way. I learned how to make music through software as a teenager on my family PC, and so anything that contributed to that situation by cause and effect I want to know more about it and draw ideas from that. In middle school I played a lot of Playstation and I think hearing the scores from games over and over had an effect on me, at a time before I had formed any identity or taste in music.

Utena—Could you talk about the lyrical content of these songs? 

Utena Kobayashi: The notes I made when writing the lyrics for "Glossolalia" are as follows: “If my eyes were as transparent as crystal / Would they be droplets from a spring / Or perhaps fossils of tears from a distant era / Or a collective of one vast sea? / I see nothing / Yet I see everything / At that moment / I may feel no meaning / Yet I may find meaning in everything / At that moment / Will I still be alive? / Will I live within myself? / My beloved, I spill the world you show me into the crystal / A strange world filled with wonder / A tiny mirror / So very small / I will become a collective / As the crystal clouds and absorbs many things / It will become a lump of memory.”

I’ve been thinking about my own existence lately. When I lower my gaze, I see my hands typing on the keyboard—are they really me? The boundary between myself and something else feels ambiguous. It’s not my physical body, nor my emotions, but the imagined scenery of autumn trees in my mind that makes me feel “existence.” What connects this ambiguous existence to the present moment are the memories of what I’ve seen, the sounds I’ve heard, the unknown world my loved one taught me, or perhaps the pie I ate today. I am living in such an ambiguous time, and even the sensation of living feels like a concept. I tried to express this feeling through the song.

What is the ideal weather to listen to these songs?

Utena Kobayashi: It might be nice to listen to it even in moments when the sunlight filters through the trees, or perhaps under the light in a room. "Sanka" might also be well-suited to listen to in the midst of a snowy field.

Joe Williams: Early spring for me. 

How did you pick the two remixes that go along with the single? 

Utena Kobayashi: Joe chose and took the lead in progressing it.

Joe Williams: Spencer Doran and I have been friends for years and worked together on Visible Cloaks music in the past, so It seemed natural to ask him. Kuniyuki is a legend and some of my favorite tracks of his are remixes so I thought he would do something sick. 

Enough music. Let’s talk candy. Who has better candy: Japan or America? 

Utena Kobayashi: I would love to try American sweets! Recently, I've been eating a lot of "Yuki no Yado," which is a type of senbei.

Joe Williams: Uhh I’m gonna have to give it to Japan.