REVIEW

Debut EP from Tokyo-based post-rock band WORLD CITIZEN.

Composer Nobuki Yagi is a veteran artist who previously released four albums with the band saisa, touring not only across Japan but also in China and Taiwan. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, all touring and recording plans were cancelled, the members gradually went their separate ways, and the band’s activities appear to have come to a halt.

A turning point came when Yagi was selected to contribute to the score for From the End of the World (2023), a film directed by Kazuaki Kiriya. That experience seems to have reignited his passion for music, leading him to regroup with new members and relaunch the project under the name WORLD CITIZEN—borrowed from the collaborative work by Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian. The band currently operates as a trio, featuring Nobuki Yagi (Gt/Vo), Satoshi Adachi (Ba), and Kaz Matsuda (Dr).

The first encounter with WORLD CITIZEN came through their debut self-promoted event at Kichijoji NEPO, where they shared the bill with established acts such as Presence of Soul and MYY. Curiosity led to a listen of their demo recordings, and the dark soundscapes—accented by icy piano motifs—made an immediate impression.

Recorded after their first live performance, this EP is presented under the concept “Rebirth of the Ruins of Regret,” and it suggests a noticeably more hopeful tone than Yagi’s earlier work. The opening track, #1 “Eternal Moment,” is an instrumental built around weighty strings, gradually evoking an image of light flooding into a monochrome world.

On #2 “Faith in Ordinary” and #3 “Siren,” Yagi delivers the same crystal-clear vocal style familiar from his saisa era. Paired with shimmering, aurora-like arrangements, these tracks at times suggest a sense of the sacred reminiscent of Sigur Rós. Track #4 “Agitator” is a re-arranged version of a song originally released on saisa’s second album. Noisy guitars swirl across a desolate sonic landscape, while elegant piano lines fall gently over the chaos, creating a solemn and expansive atmosphere. The addition of a newly written section toward the end—absent from the original—adds further dramatic weight.

As a whole, this EP stands as a strong and promising release that could help energize Japan’s post-rock scene moving forward. It will be interesting to see what kind of world WORLD CITIZEN continues to build from here.

In preparation for this review, revisiting saisa’s full discography revealed four albums with distinctly different approaches, all of them highly rewarding listens. Among them, the second album “and I will,” with its particularly frigid and crushing post-rock sound, stands out as a personal favorite. For those interested, the opportunity to compare these earlier versions with the re-recorded tracks by WORLD CITIZEN adds another layer of enjoyment. All of these works are currently available to stream on Bandcamp.

[Update: 2026] The project appears to have reverted to its original name, saisa, and its releases are currently unavailable on major streaming services.