Pop music often opts for positivity rather than confronting the uncomfortable, but Seiko Oomori has never really adhered to J-pop norms.
¡°The bad things that happen to you can also be attractive, almost kawaii,¡± she says from one of the upper floors at the headquarters of Avex, a music label that has pumped out no shortage of feel-good pop. ¡°You can feel OK about something that is kuso (³¦°ù²¹±è±è²â).¡±
That¡¯s where she got the name for her most recent album, ¡°Kusokawa Party,¡± which came out in July. The 10-song release winds through slow-burning ballads, nervy electro-pop and rock chuggers, with Oomori¡¯s voice threading them together ¡ª jumping from whisper to shriek in a flash, all of it delivered with an emotional rawness.
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