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Reverse Engineering: Monotoons “Watashi No Hachimitsu”

A little earlier this year, I wrote about Mcpero, a rapper here in Tokyo who released a very nice EP. I interviewed her for a larger piece, which was all good, and I was determined to keep tabs on this rising hip-hop star. Except I missed a huge chunk of her career – as Ian Martin pointed out, she’s also lead singer for the band Monotoons. And she’s just as deft a singer as rapper, as demonstrated on newest song “Watashi No Hachimitsu.” Over an electro backdrop — one that has moments of twinkling escape, but more often than not feels ready to dissolve into 0s and 1s, adding some extra tension to the song — she bounces over it, the sweetest part of the song, at least until the traces of strings sneak in. Listen above.