It is once again time to premiere new music from Atsuko Chiba and I couldn't be happier. If you missed the last few times (and there really have been several of them at this point), then I'll catch you up real quick: Atsuko Chiba are my favorite experimental rock band and they're one of the only bands that's worthy of the title. They have this kind of effortless vibe to them that makes everything they make seem cool, as if they don't even have to try to surprise us anymore and just let their creative energies flow whenever they record an album. Obviously that's not true. Obviously there's a lot of work that goes into something as well made and intricate as their music. But listening to their latest, self-titled release, you won't be able to tell.
Like previous albums before it, this release relies on the band's exceptional understanding of what makes something rock. Even when they're low-key and quiet on a track like "Retention", which opens the album, everything oozes energy and verve. From the vocals through the multiple percussive instruments to the sleek, satisfying bass, everything pops and shines. Tunnel these energies through redolent synths and you get my other favorite track on the release, "Torn", all winding energies and unfurling nostalgia. Between these tracks, you get the feeling that the cover art conveys - someplace lost, someplace that might not even have existed to begin with, but someplace to which you are compelled.
Atsuko Chiba is another entry then in Atsuko Chiba's journey to the heart of what makes rock, well, rock. This time, it seems as if the band are gravitating towards a more tuned down, softer mode. This also results in more melancholy, evinced on tracks like "Locked and Array" with it somber guitar and soft, compelling, sable-like outro. However, even though the sound is quieter and more contained, it still has plenty of power to move you and, most importantly, capture your imagination. That's what makes this album, and band, unique; they have their own personality and are queued into it to a tee, allowing them to be Atsuko Chiba even as they turn the volume down.
The album drops in full tomorrow, Friday 4/24, and you'd be a fool not to scroll up, click through to Bandcamp and pre-order it.