New Frasco: “Sleepwalking”

Tokyo duo Frasco tend to operate in two modes. One style veers close to what some have labelled “city pop revival,” though it is just as indebted to acid jazz, AOR cuts and American funk. It’s good and often times bump-able. The second though, which ends up on display in new song “Sleepwalking,” is far more intriguing. It finds the pair embracing electronic sounds — sounds where their digital nature is quiet clear — and laying them out in a slow groove. Elements of their ’80s-leaning sound, aka option one, are present, but everything feels a little more blurred. And then they make that clear by warping the lead vocals, giving “Sleepwalking” a fitting dream-like edge. If so much of this urban funk seems built for just chilling out, “Sleepwalking” offers an interpretation where the ground beneath you can fall out at any second. Listen above.