Reona

Reona is the debut album on Kou Records by Reona — tap dancer, metal percussionist, improviser, and one of the most original sound artists working today.

Recorded over two days in January 2026 at Studio Dede and produced by Randall Dunn, the album captures Reona's full-body practice in real time: tap shoes and wooden board as rhythmic foundation, layered with metal sheets, chains, stainless steel bowls, plastic bags, loudspeakers, and found and handmade objects gathered across years of performance.

The instruments carry their own histories: a signboard from Okinawa warning of unexploded bomb disposal, a transport company sign from the Jingisukan Pot Museum in Iwamizawa, a festival bell acquired at the start of COVID, South Indian meal plates, and an oil pot from Taiwan. Reona's practice sits between the Japanese noise tradition of Merzbow and Otomo Yoshihide, and the percussive physicality of Milford Graves and Han Bennink.