New Figure: “Make Me Dry”
Nagoya’s Figure pretty much exists outside of any current Japanese music scene going today. His music easily could be classified as DIY indie-pop, but dude’s work is both too dark and too gravely to match up with the rest of Japan’s sunny twee charms. Figure also isn’t particularly arty or wild, discounting him from the more punk/garage/whatever the equivalent of Koenji in Nagoya is crowd. Figure just goes along releasing thick tracks like “Make Me Dry,” a just-over-six-minutes-long chug that finds his vocals approaching Paul Banks’ territory and the music being quite complex. This jump from a marble chug to a surprisingly twinkly bit in the middle that adds dashes of hope to an otherwise shadowy number. It’s impressive, and a reminder of how interesting this guy is. Listen below.