Fluent in the rules of music, dance and mixed-media composition, Akiko Haruna is able to bend and break disciplines with her productions. Her playground of sonic talents include being a skilled pianist, vocalist, sound designer and previously trained violinist and flautist. A graduate of Digital Music & Sound Arts, her practice involves a combination of dance and movement with sonic constructions.

→ Listen to ‘Be Little Me’

→ Visit akikoharuna.com

“When I’m writing tunes it’s always just some kind of release”, says Akiko, and her production is similarly exploratory. She manipulates sound and rhythm into vigorous, personal and playful forms, pushing at the boundaries of raucous 4/4 dance pop, abstract soundscapes and noise art with humour, euphoria and poise.

Selected Discography

“Raw” – November 2020 – Numbers
“Die and Retry” – November 2020 – Timedance
Delusions – June 2019 – Where to Now?

Recent Press

“Skewing towards exploratory club pop, ‘Be Little Me’ sees Haruna chasing the electronic eroticism suggested at in their previous projects, placing frenetic dance floor experiments side-by-side vocal tracks in the lineage of SOPHIE and PC Music. The most evocative – and most singular – of these is ‘Yakusoku,’ in which Haruna’s sensual vocals drift through the murky thrum and cold fizz of their production, lending a melancholy, erotic charge to an intricate volley of percussive throb and pulsing bass alchemy.” (FACT Magazine – Akiko Haruna Embodies Yearning and Melancholy with “Yakusoku”)

“‘Be Little Me’ EP is a summation of her work to date; it’s a bold set of avant garde pop and club music sung in both Japanese and English.” (Clash – Pushing It Forward: 9 NextGen UK Bass Producers With Incredible Sound Design – March 2022)

“[‘Be Little Me’] is a melting pot of worlds — some parts epic film score, some parts pop, EDM and hardcore. It beams bright with Akiko’s unique perspective on sound design.” (DJ Mag – Get To Know: Akiko Haruna – January 2022)

“[‘Big Boys’ is] a jaw-dropping hyper-techno production composed of metallic techno beats, revving engine synths and Haruna’s psychedelic voice, ideal for future motorsports events.”(The Quietus – Hyperspecific: The Best Dance Music of 2021 – December 2021)

Image Credits
Photography by KT Allen
Sculpture and Set by Emily Bond
Styling and Creative Direction by An Nguyen