New Shugo Tokumaru: “Lift”

Intricate pop tinkerer Shugo Tokumaru’s latest album, Toss, officially arrives in stores today, and since we weren’t anticipating it enough already, he’s shared the song “Lift” to coincide with its arrival. What has been fun to watch — especially as Tokumaru has gone from domestic obscurity to Tower-Records-front-room staple — has been how he builds on the whirlwind formula he’s run with for a while now. “Lift” sees him pushing it to new extremes — the interlocking backing vocals and guitar remain, but the song also has horn and string passages that just zip by, and chipmunked-vocals during a psych-tinged breakdown. Most startling — in, like, the best way — is that there is no neat ending, but rather something approaching a freakout, complete with rising static and Tokumaru suddenly hitting the brakes. He’s always been organized, and now he’s getting controlled chaos under his belt. Listen above.