Northern Soul: Michiganized’s “OTOGI (My Heart Feels So Blue)”
Lake Michigan used to be a solid indie-pop band, an outfit making skippy numbers glazed with plenty of melancholy, which is to say it was standard but quality stuff in a genre never lacking in artists within Japan. Well, the group has certainly changed in some ways, boasting a new name — Michiganized — and embracing sparse electronic sounds over familiar jangle. “OTOGI (My Heart Feels So Blue)” follows the same thinking of Crunch’s Blue Blue Blue EP of just being direct with its feelings, from the title on down to the etheral vibe wherein the lead vocals hang in the air surrounded by wispy synthesizer and piano notes. Listen above.
