Alice Knows Karate is the brainchild of San Francisco native Keiko Takamura.
After performing as vocalist in her previous group Crashfaster, the songwriter went on to create a new sound. Drawing her lyrical inspiration from indie video games, fairy tales, and her own life experiences, working with producers to build the music around vocal tracks she wrote and recorded herself, the Fablewave EP delves into an ambient, dream-like synth pop soundscape.
Fablewave Deluxe Press Release:
On the heels of her Fablewave EP released last summer, San Francisco dark-pop artist Alice Knows Karate (the brainchild of Keiko Takamura) returns with the release of her debut full-length, Fablewave Deluxe, out now.
Over 13 winding, dizzying experimental tracks, Alice Knows Karate guides listeners through a world unlike any other. “Fablewave Deluxe is my attempt to connect listeners to my experiences through video games, fairy tales, and pop culture,” Keiko says about the record. Her influences are clear in both the glitching, neon electronica and soft pop punches that resound on the album.
Packed with sugary sweet solo tracks spliced with an edge and punchy remixes by a slew of talented producers including Yitaku and Singto Conley, Fablewave Deluxe is a labyrinth of wholly unexpected alt-pop efforts. There are times when Alice Knows Karate offers dreamy, eerie excursions, times when she’s lost in a cloud of pulsing dance beats, and times when these two extremes seem to meet in the middle for an addictive blend of otherworldly electro-pop compositions. On Fablewave Deluxe, she defies genre and traps listeners in a world of sound we hadn’t known existed.
Alice Knows Karate 