And to the forest’s delight, these stones chimed in crystalline syncopation—themselves the hallow instrument; the creek, its performer.

Stories, the first solo album from Masayoshi Fujita outside of his work as el fog, flows with an earthly grace, evocative and deeply beautiful. Excluding some well-placed strings, the Berlin-based Japanese artist illustrates eight scenes of nature almost solely using the vibraphone, which at times he greets with a bow and inventively coats with bead and aluminum foil. The release is available worldwide January 21 through the ever-tranquil minds over at Flau.

[The image above is derived from a Jay Dickman photograph)