New Mitsume: “Sasayaki”

ByPatrick St. Michel

Tokyo indie-rock quartet Mitsume’s third album Sasayaki comes out today, and all signs point to it being a bit of a breakthrough. It’s getting a decent push in stores…I saw the display at the Tower Records in Shinjuku this afternoon, and it is right in the front, and big! And it’s probably going to be an artistic leap forward too. Mitsume have been getting better with each release, starting out as a serviceable-albeit-unexciting indie-pop band on their self-titled debut, and then showed signs of experimentation on the step-in-the-right-direction Eye. The tracks to appear in advance of this one are even better – this one found them locking into one of their best grooves to date, while managing to make the edges of the track sound strange and even slightly unhinged. And now the title track, similarly focused yet allowing splashes of wildness to creep in (the guitars and the feel contributed by the drum machine hits). Yet at the center is a catchy melody that never relents. Listen above.

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