Long-awaited, Shigeto's Cherry Blossom Baby (via Ghostly) saw the light of day last Friday and we witnessed the full palette of Zach's creative sonic imagination.

With influences ranging from jazz, downtempo, house, hip hop, and disco music, in just 10 songs, the record offers a multi-dimensional experience. After listening to the record in full, his quote makes sense. "I am a cherry blossom baby," he shares. "We all are cherry blossom babies, resilient and constantly growing. We will continue to thrive."

For today's highlight, I chose my favorite (so far) track, "Nothing Simple", which was included in our New Music Discoveries playlist. I love the complementary sound of the vocalists Tammy Lakkis and Cleveland Thrasher

When it comes to the story of the track, Shigato elaborates, "Nothing Simple came together almost effortlessly. Tammy and I were in the studio listening to the instrumental and she casually sang the words ‘waiting for the sound, waiting for the simple words but they don’t come... waiting for the words to come... but there’s nothing simple about this love’ and I was like ‘that’s it right there!’ I thought it would be great as a duo so I brought Cleveland in and he wrote his part in less than an hour. The combo of Tammy and Cleveland’s voices is the spirit of this cut but the secret sauce for me is the Moog basslines, dancing all over the track, from Detroit bass veteran, Calvin Scruggs (Dwelle)."

Tammy Lakkis adds, "This song happened in a spur-of-the-moment kind of way. Zach and I don’t really ‘jam’ or collaborate very often but whenever we do it is very fun, fluid, and free. I think the song is speaking of an awaited return to creation."

I love the playful groove and abundance of sounds that make up the beat. Also, "Nothing Simple" is one of the rare occasions I find autotune complementing.

posted by Ivo
4 weeks ago