Carpe Diem – Sakura Fubuki (2025)
Using intimate narratives and poetic lyricism, Hong Kong-based Carpe Diem guides you through an experimental exploration of life in all its honour and dismay. With a penchant for storytelling, the duo not only entertain you with their sounds and words but also keeps you thinking about the message, musing on the theme, and interpreting the tales and melodies as your own. We came across Carpe Diem in 2023 with their single ‘Airborne’ and continued to follow their music. Today, we take a listen to their most recent single, ‘Sakura Fubuki’.
Following the well-received 2024 single, ‘Ne Plus Ultra’, Carpe Diem continues their intricate philosophical sonic journey through reality with ‘Sakura Fubuki’. While ‘Ne Plus Ultra’ navigated the concept of how “…an imperfect world can still be perfect”, ‘Sakura Fubuki’ tips its hat at the fleeting nature of life, the need to cherish every moment, and the experience of enjoying today – all captured in a musical expression of Japanese cherry blossoms. The band explains:
“The new release, ‘Sakura Fubuki’, takes you on a journey when the cherry blossoms sprinkle down from the trees onto the ground like rain… The flower petals are very fragile to the touch, so with the slightest bit of wind, the flowers detach from the tree and flurry through the air in a sakura fubuki or cherry blossom blizzard… We tried to arrange a Japanese-style song to describe a blizzard of falling cherry blossoms…”
Recorded and produced at Yeah Studio in Hong Kong, ‘Sakura Fubuki’ offers an ethereal, mellifluous, gentle sound, calming your soul and sending goosebumps across your arms. Finding the poignant nature of vintage folk and melding it with an indie-pop tone, Keith’s rhythm guitar entwines with Bryan Kam’s bass as Jenny’s shimmering keys complement Alexander Shirazee’s percussion and Emily’s flute.
A neat package of refreshing music, ‘Sakura Fubuki’ captures the charm of the cherry blossoms, but it is Ava’s vocals flitting from English to Japanese that ups the ante. Moreover, the collection of birds twittering in the background lifts the track to a lighter tune with delicate fragility.
In addition to the single, Carpe Diem released an official music video for ‘Sakura Fubuki’. You can view the video below and/or on their YouTube channel.
Find out more about Carpe Diem on their Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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