Susumu Hirasawa

Synthesised choirs and processed vocals used to score anxiety rather than wonder: Susumu Hirasawa makes music that sounds like a malfunction.

Hirasawa composed the music for Paranoia Agent, a series about a city gripped by an attacker who may not exist. His score, built on layered synthetic voice and insistent rhythm, is a large part of why the production feels unstable, and its opening theme is one of the most unnerving pieces of music in the medium.

Background and Influences

He is a Japanese musician who led an influential technopop band before working alone, and he has built his own instruments and vocal processing systems. He worked repeatedly with one animation director, and their collaboration produced several of the most distinctive scores in Japanese animation. His work has always sat outside the industry's standard scoring practice.

Style and Themes

Recurring subjects: dissociation, euphoria and dread produced by the same musical material, and processed voice used as a lead instrument. He builds tracks from repeating cells that accumulate rather than develop, and he mixes traditional melodic writing with electronic textures that deliberately sound artificial.

Legacy and Influence

His scores for a small number of animated features and series are treated as landmark works, and his music has a following far beyond animation audiences. He is regularly cited as one of the most singular composers to have worked in the medium, with a sound nobody else has successfully imitated.

Who Should Explore Their Work

For listeners who want music that unsettles rather than accompanies. Suited to anyone approaching psychological animation, and to those interested in electronic composition that predates the tools now used for it.