Tokyo shoegaze trio Nuit kicked off the new year with their latest track titled “Solitude”. The song, which was posted minutes after 2019 officially rang in, features frontman Yasuyuki Ota’s trademark dramatic vocals shrouded in billowing waves of hissing guitar. The stripped down verse is just there to set up for the explosion into the heartbreaking sway of the chorus. It’s a very Nuit-sounding song, feeling like something out of the early to mid 2000s. “Solitude” is the second single, not counting the band’s plant cell cover, that Nuit has released since their 2018 self-titled EP. Makes you wonder if we’ll see a follow up effort at some point in 2019.
Tag: single
Coaltar of the Deepers – “SUMMER GAZER ’92”
Legendary Japanese shoegaze/alternative/metal outfit Coaltar of the Deepers came out of nowhere yesterday at around 7pm with a massive announcement that their first new music in about seven years would be released at midnight. The news came roughly six months after the band’s core member NARASAKI cryptically Tweeted that he was working on Deepers music again. The track, titled “SUMMER GAZER ’92”, is the first single off the upcoming “Rabbit E.P.”, which will be out in November. Both announcements were initially made via NARASAKI’s newly formed label U-desper Records.
The announcement of a new Deepers single a mere five hours prior to its release was pretty jolting considering there was no real reason to believe we’d get any new material from one of Japan’s most well-known and influential cult acts. NARASAKI has been incredibly active over the years writing and producing for a bunch of different artists while also creating music for various anime. However, the new was unsurprisingly well-received, with “SUMMER GAZER ’92” at one point reaching as high as number 2 on the iTunes song charts on the day of its release.
The song itself was initially described by U-desper Records as a (loosely translated) “hot summer tune for summer lovers”, and with its warm, groovy sound that feels pretty accurate. “SUMMER GAZER ’92” has something of a mellow, jazzy samba vibe, relying on a dreamy swirl of instrumental and vocal textures and a more subtly developing intensity than the in-your-face chaotic sound that Deepers is perhaps better known for. Though it might not be what people expect, it’s a really solid return to action for a very important band and a preview of what is easily now the most anticipated Japanese shoegaze release of 2018.
“SUMMER GAZER ’92” is currently available for purchase on iTunes worldwide. Follow U-desper Records on Twitter for updates regarding the “Rabbit E.P.” release.
BLANCO – “A Place For Youthful Days”
I admittedly didn’t know a whole lot about Tokyo’s BLANCO prior to falling in love with their dreamy indie pop track “Paradise” on Ano(t)raks’ DIE IN POP comp from a couple months back. The uptempo new wave pop track is super dancy and kind of messy, with bouts of tripped out wonky synths. Today the band released it as the latter half of its new two-song single titled “A Place For Youthful Days”. The lead track on the single is a slower-paced blurry psych tune called “Isolated City” that’s driven by some delightfully fuzzed-out bass. Just like in “Paradise” this song has some pretty solid depth thanks to its synth backdrop, though in this case it’s used to create a bit more texture. The male-female vocal harmonies are really solid, too. Check it out for yourself at Bandcamp.
And here’s their video for “Paradise”.
Juvenile Juvenile – “Perfect Lies”
In the Japanese indie scene, the mingling of indie pop and shoegaze is something that happens pretty frequently. The former has been riding a steady wave of popularity for a while now, and the latter is oft-misunderstood but nevertheless enjoying an ever-growing resurgence of its own. These two genres, vague as they may be, are a perfect marriage. However, like a lot of bands who dabble in shoegaze, there are plenty who scoff at being called a shoegaze band.
In the Japanese indie scene, the mingling of indie pop and shoegaze is something that happens pretty frequently. The former has been riding a steady wave of popularity for a while now, and the latter is oft-misunderstood but nevertheless enjoying an ever-growing resurgence of its own. These two genres, vague as they may be, are a perfect marriage. However, like a lot of bands who dabble in shoegaze, there are plenty who scoff at being called a shoegaze band. In situations like these, we just slap on the “dream pop” tag and voila, tricky genre debate averted. Osaka has consistently produced top notch indie pop bands in recent years, so its no surprise that it’s also the home of Japan’s finest dream pop band. The foursome is as good as anyone at creating jangly pop tunes and drowning them in reverb and hazy background noise. Their latest mastery of the style has come in the form of a new single titled “Perfect Lies”.
“Perfect Lies” is one track off the upcoming double A-side 7-inch single – the opposite side is titled “Planet Heaven” – that was announced last week. It will be the band’s first single release, and first new music since 2014s Our Great Escape album (which, for what it’s worth, topped my best releases of the year list). The single, which will be released on August 10th in clear blue vinyl via Flake Records, was produced by The Bilinda Butchers’ Michal Palmer and will be accompanied by a bonus CD featuring remixes by Jesse Ruins and Teto 2.
“Perfect Lies” is a pretty, thickly layered, melancholy track, consistent with the vibes of the ultra-dreamy “Just Like You Do” from Our Great Escape. The most attractive element of Juvenile Juvenile’s sound is the depth that they create, not only with their big, lushly layered guitars, but with frontman Masami Tsuchiya’s breathy vocals. What they lack in edge (only mentioned here because of my general affinity for the super loud) they more than make up for in their desire to fill every last square inch of space with sound. On “Perfect Lies” they do just that, even keeping the leads that normally carry their tunes a bit more subtle. Juvenile Juvenile is back at it, and I’ll be looking forward to hearing “Planet Heaven” in the near future.
There’s not a whole lot of info on where the single will be available, but be sure to follow the band on Facebook and Twitter for more info. And if for some reason you haven’t heard their previously released music, you can find it on Juvenile Juvenile’s Bandcamp page.
[Glasgow] New Music from The Cherry Wave!
The Cherry Wave have gotten around to giving us that music they’ve been promising. The wait was somewhat long but in the end it’s been totally worth it. The Glasgow foursome released the first track, “Whitey”, from its upcoming album, which should (fingers crossed) be out in the near future. “Whitey” features two and a half minutes of the fuzzed-out droning guitars, howling leads, and powerful rhythm section that we’ve come to love through an EP and some change to date. There’s a bit more of an edge to this track than the first EP, a direction perhaps signaled in last summer’s single “Under Dull Grey Skies”, which appeared on Lamppost Records’ Under the Wildflowers: volume 1 comp. Anyway, it’s good to hear some music from the guys and it’s enough to whet your appetite while the finishing touches are put on a highly anticipated new record. Have a listen, enjoy, and tell your friends.