Biography
Satomimagae (サトミマガエ) is the recording name of Satomi Magae (born 1989), a Japanese songwriter, guitarist, and producer. Her ambient folk music combines acoustic guitar and layered vocals with field recordings and electronic processing.
She began playing acoustic guitar and writing music in 2003. Her interest in environmental sound developed after hearing an outdoor siren blend with a song playing through her headphones, an experience that suggested ways of incorporating her surroundings into music. She independently released her debut album, awa, in 2012. Koko (2014) and Kemri (2017) followed through White Paddy Mountain, the label run by Chihei Hatakeyama.
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Hanazono (2021) began her association with RVNG Intl., which released the album in partnership with Guruguru Brain. Co-produced with Hideki Urawa, it incorporated electric guitar and birdsong into her layered arrangements. A different approach emerged through her collaboration with sound artist duenn on 境界 KYOKAI (2023), which paired her voice with his experimental ambient compositions.
That collaboration helped shape her fifth solo album, Taba, released by RVNG Intl. on April 25, 2025. She began treating brief musical fragments as material for finished pieces, setting aside conventional demos and assembling songs around guitar, voice, and recorded sounds. Conceived as a loose collection of short stories, the album considers individuals, groups, and the experiences that connect them. Guest contributions on synthesizer, Rhodes piano, and clarinet expand its instrumentation.
Satomimagae also records with Scottish musician Euan Alexander Millar-McMeeken as Yoal. Their collaboration began when he invited her to remix a track by his project Glacis, developing through long-distance correspondence and an exchange of ideas about their surroundings. Lost Tribe Sound released their debut album, Gloaming, on May 8, 2026. Both musicians wrote and performed the songs, with Satomimagae also handling the mix.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.