トキサカシマ (Tokisakashima)

Often, when a legacy act makes a comeback after a long hiatus, they never quite live up to the bar they set. When self-styled synth diva Mioko Yamaguchi returned to making music under her own name after 35 years of writing for other artists, she didn’t even try to recapture the former glory of her classic album from 1983 Tsuki-Hime—she did something different entirely. With her longtime collaborator Hideki Matstake (renowned engineer and synth programmer that helped craft YMO’s signature sound) at her side again, she looked to inspiration in the here and now instead of reaching for what inspired her way back when. She had been playing a lot of Chrono Trigger, and made an album heavily influenced by its sonics and themes. It sounds strikingly like a long lost classic, but not the kind you’d expect; think less synth-pop, and more golden era Square Enix.