Music
07 Dec 20

Track of the Day: Cecilia Gault - 'Hanasuto'

Growing up in New York to Japanese and Irish parents, 21-year-old Cecilia Gault’s diverse cultural traditions informed her musical tastes as well as her own artistic output.

As one of the most promising acts to rise out of the New York music scene in recent times, Irish-Japanese artist Gault was shaped by the city's vast diversity.

Exposed to diverse cultural traditions from a young age, this openness to life would go on to inform her musical tastes as well as her own artistic output, culminating in her debut release 'If You're Gonna Lie' in 2018.

With experiences as a student at the lauded Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU, Gault has performed across multiple intimate venues across the city and has co-written for notable electronic acts.

Experimenting with complex musical stylings, her new single 'Hanasuto' (produced by Dominic Florio) was penned as a satirical play on the hyper-sexualisation of the Japanese schoolgirl stereotype.

Effortlessly blending together traditional electronic pop beats with soft and airy vocals, Cecilia provides an important commentary on the objectification of young Asian girls and the presence of male gaze within her culture, all the while masquerading as an infectious pop number.

“The English translation of ‘Hanasuto’ is ‘When I Talk Like This’, Cecilia explains. “It’s my play on the hyper-sexualized Japanese school girl stereotype fantasy. The Japanese lyrics “貴方の　視線　感じて, シャツのボタン　弾けて, 私の　インスタを　眺めて” translate to “I can feel your gaze, my shirts buttons are popping off, you’re staring longingly at my Instagram’. ‘Hanasuto’ is told through the voice of the woman...the object of the fantasy.”

Often lending her voice to progressive house anthems, she’s featured on numerous successful tracks, including co-writing and performing the 2019 Kaskade hit 'Love Me Like You Used To' - which amassed over 7.5 million streams on Spotify.

Cloaked in synths and spiked electronic rhythms, Cecilia Gault touches on a topic of immense personal importance in 'Hanasuto'.

“My big interest is creative freedom and communication through art,” she says. “To create is the base of human communication. Music and songwriting is my way of weaving together pieces of my life to create a story.”

Check out our Track of the Day, 'Hanasuto', below:

https://open.spotify.com/track/6UYs0odDmN1S56dFFHTAC5