New :visited: “Sweetest Things”

Dummy magazine ran an interview with Sapphire Slows today, and it’s a really good read. One of the best parts comes when she decides to talk about the blossoming music scene in Tokyo – she mentions the likes of Friends, Neon Cloud and New House, and also fits in the CUZ ME PAIN roster. It’s a small paragraph in an interview that isn’t going to make a big dent in an online world where each hour feels like decades for content – but, and maybe I’m just crazy, I think this sort of thing helps for what could be a big 2012 for Japanese (and Asian) artists in general. More and more Western outlets are mentioning Korean pop, and a quote at The Singles Jukebox today really struck me – “I’m getting more and more into pop in languages other than English.” I think a lot of people are…and I think it’s only going to grow in 2012. I think…and again, this is speculation…that next year might be a pivotal year for those in the Tokyo scene to get the international attention they want.

What I’m trying to say is…smart thing :visited is releasing an EP in the near future. “Sweetest Things” is the first glimpse at this release, and it finds the CUZ ME PAIN project doing what he does best – make a warm, sun-soaked beat and bass line combo the driving force of the track, and then letting dueling vocal samples, both practically tripping over themselves, add the seemingly label-mandated unease. And hey, a bit of narrative-damaging truth…as easy as it is to give into the CUZ ME PAIN idea that all the artists on this label sound like bedroom-grounded dudes who really like shadows, :visited has established himself as the most sun-obsessed of the bunch. “Sweetest Things” follows up his last two releases as being really really bright – like, I can feel the sun getting in my eyes and making me regret not buying sunglasses. The CUZ ME PAIN roster…and, heck, the Tokyo scene as a whole…might share a few similarities, but this past year has seen each act establish what exactly makes them their own artist. Listen below.

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