Empty Melon releases new song “Don’t Look Away,” a darker contrast to her previous single.
Empty Melon (Summer Kodama’s solo project) has a new song “Don’t Look Away” out now. The song is atmospheric, dark, and emotionally charged, transforming a late-night spiraling into something beautiful.
It blends experimental electronics, art pop textures, and cinematic sound design as it explores and embraces the discomfort rather than avoiding it. The song finds clarity through directness, vulnerability and self-confrontation.
It started with spiraling while driving alone at 2am and improvising on the bass guitar, What began as a fleeting emotional moment gradually evolved into a meditation on honesty, both with others and with oneself.
Summer says that the commitment to honesty ultimately became the emotional core of the song. The title comes off as confrontational, but for Summer, she says that it represents something more personal:
I think there’s a catharsis to expressing yourself and your needs with plain, direct language. It allows you to facilitate an alignment with your most authentic self. Honesty is the most important component of self-expression.
The contrast between Empty Melon’s releases
“Don’t Look Away” follows up on Summer’s debut single “Hoping to Find.” The latter song seems to drift through the hazy space between sleep and wakefulness, exploring rediscovery and openness; meanwhile, “Don’t Look Away” is within a darker emotional landscape, leaning into uncertainty, introspection and courage to face things head on. Summer describes the two songs to be polar opposites – with one basking in sunlight, while the other emerges from the dark of night.
Despite that, both songs were written during May 2024. The tracks reveal the contrasting sides of the same creative period. Even the recording process was an exercise in experimentation and trust. She collaborated with Leo Bagel, who is the keyboardist for Post NC. Summer explains her choice in having a collaborator:
I’ve been finding it extremely helpful having a collaborator to experiment with. I already feel two opposing voices in my brain, so the third brings balance, inspiration, and more accountability.
Summer Kodama is a Japanese-American upright/electric bassist, improviser, composer, producer and visual artist. She has been performing, recording and touring musician since 2021, although she professionally debuted on Las Vegas Strip in 2016.
She has performed in Disneyland, Postmodern Jukebox, Il Divo and Ada Lea. Now, she regularly performs at Las Vegas Strip at the Wynn, the Bellagio, Fontaine Bleau and is the resident bassist at the Rat Pack is Back! at the Tuscany.
Besides her music, she also has a passion for creating sustainable support systems for underrepresented artists. Because of that, she has composed and performed the music for ReWritten (a dance/theatre production created by queer artists), creating the Access Artists Mentorship Program, and co-produced digital content for Arcade Bops (Video Game Music). She has some free material for aspiring musicians in her website, including Harmonization and Compositional Exercises, and also offers lessons.
Empty Melon is what Summer is focusing on right now. This solo project is a cinematic collision of live performance, electronic production and visual art. She draws from her experiences to craft soundscapes ever changing but authentic to her.
“Don’t Look Away” is now available in all streaming platforms.
Press Release, Official Website
