Cuushe - Magic

What this video is

Released October 14, 2020 as the second single from WAKEN (FLAU, November 20, 2020), 'Magic' marks Cuushe's return to active recording after a period of personal difficulty. The video embodies a key tension in early-2020s Japanese indie visual culture: the desire to root globally networked, digital-native music in tactile, geographic, and folkloric imagery. Tajima's use of Tibetan location footage as a backdrop for…

Why it matters

A defining artifact of the 2020 Japanese dream pop moment: 'Magic' synthesizes chillwave's warm textures, ambient pop's spaciousness, and indie electronic production into a form that is distinctly post-internet yet deeply analog in feeling. The hybrid animation/documentary video format advances a…

The director

Tao Tajima is a Tokyo-based director and filmmaker operating through the visual design studio Tangram. His work is characterized by a distinctive worldview that transforms everyday and travel landscapes into cinematic visual experiences. He is credited as…