Perhaps Fuji Rock may have miscalculated stage assignment when choosing the relatively small Naeba Shokudo stage for electronic musician and songwriter AAAMYYY’s Saturday night performance, as the crowd was beyond spillover well before her set began. Lesson to be learned – never underestimate AAAMYYY.

She was a support member for the art rock outfit Tempalay for many years, formally joining the band in 2018 and proving herself integral to their success (their Friday Field of Heaven set evidenced this). But tonight was all about AAAMYYY, robed in flowing gossamer white and released from behind her synthesizer.

Her music had a throwback electronic chill-wave dance feel, nowhere better displayed than in her set opener and most well known tune Over My Dead Body. Deep bass, twinkling synth and drum machine beats reminiscent of Chromatics fit her confident, sensual singing style well, her lyrics predominantly Japanese but peppered with flawless English. Her tight backing band accented the digital beats and synthesizer sounds without overshadowing the electronic core they created.

Deeper into the set, AAAMYYY showed off her abilities to craft a song to make a body move without leaving an overly sweet aftertaste, occasionally sounding like a more delicate and danceable Garbage, or a darker and moodier Grew Stefani. If that sounds dated, she is definitely going for a retro vibe so it fits.

The set closing songs were another highlight of the performance, some streamlined and effectively danceable pop tracks. She was at her best when she let a little bounce into her sound. It is also notable how many airhorn effects there were during song breaks. Lots of ‘em. Everyone likes air horns though, right?

The set was a breezy 40 minutes, with a lot of high notes that left the crowd wanting more. Here’s hoping AAAMYYY finds enough time away from Tempalay to continue advancing the artistic work she is doing here. There is potential here even beyond her current stellar output.