A tribute to Miyazaki and his “Castle In The Sky”

Seeing art imerge and interchange between one another is something that makes me feel that everything is continuously connected.  Art is made to influence, to inspire and to move the idea of creating forward. This is what came to my mind when listening to “Laputa” – a song by Hiatus Kaiyote from the album “Choose Your Weapon”.

This  jazz-funk band from Melbourne creates a very peculiar ambience with their imaginative and fusion-based work. They themselves call the style “wondercore”…and after hearing what they do, well… no wonder.

The song “Laputa” was created as a tribute, after the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki –  one of the most respected animators and producers and the co-founder of Studio Ghibli. Right from the start we are presented with a floating and very neo-jazzy intro, that builds up to the whole visualization of the floating castle from the animation “Castle in the Sky “ from 1986. 

The song “Laputa” is a tribute made out of music, where the band expreses not only the love for the director, but also the longing after the lost floating castle – the sense of freedom, peace, imagination and spirituality.