Kouta is Luca Young. At 22 years old, he’s already lived in Japan, Hawaii and now the East Bay area. His debut EP, Orinda, was released last March and is available on a pay-what-you-want basis on his bandcamp page.
What makes this EP standout is the way Kouta carefully weaves his samples into the very fabric of each song. You don’t really notice they’re there, but they have a habit of coming to the fore at just the right moment.
‘Sakura’ is a case in point. Guitar and piano lines build upon one another throughout, and it’s not until nearly 4 minutes in that we first hear Kouta’s voice, simply repeating ‘pleasant combination’ over and over.
Have a listen, then head over to bandcamp to grab yourself a copy by clicking here. Good music at no cost? A pleasant combination indeed.