Kishi BashiSonderlust
Joyful Noise / Inertia

- Seattle's Kishi Bashi isn't like too many things that come out of Washington State. His third full-length illustrates that with his usual ebullience, even as it covers up a core of emotional struggle. I never know how much people are aware of the work of Kaoru Ishibashi, either his struggles or his pop stratospheres. For all that his glam is epic, it feels like it has yet to make room in the heart of a wider listening audience. Sonderlust may be the record to change that.

I say ‘may’, because as confident as Kaori’s pop is, evoking the full majesty of ELO at the height of their fame, it’s as full of intricately arty gestures and complex emotions. Just take the title -Sonderlust- a German word for something which only Germans could have a word for: the obscure sorrow upon realising other people have an internal life just as rich and important as your own.

Kaori has spoken of the relationship angst that’s been gnawing at him as he put the record together: complex and potentially not very pop flavoured, but, honestly, given how sugary Kishi Bashi can be, you’ll probably find that it brings much needed bitter contrasts to the ocean of sweetness.

It’s interesting to think of the comparisons between this record and the last Of Montreal album. Many people would have first heard Kishi Bashi sawing his violin as part of Kevin Barnes’ outfit and you can easily hear the legacy they share. Of Montreal are stylistic chameleons, but recent single, Different For Girls, would have fitted perfectly in amongst the songs of Sonderlust. Barnes’ brings even more unrelenting depression to his work: it’s not out of the question that Kishi Bashi’s pop / pain balance is a healthier and more conducive listen. Barnes certainly liked it enough to contribute some bass-work to the easy going pop of the tune Hey Big Star.

Another contributor whose touch you’ll feel across the record is Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, his work behind the desk makes Sonderlust as wonderfully balanced -despite all the complexity-  as any of his own work. I’m not sure if he contributed to the orchestrations, but the string arrangements do recall his sweet chamber pop as much as Kishi’s penchant for pushing things completely over the top into utter prog-pop.

Whoever else is at work , it certainly doesn’t stop Kaori from indulging some wildly unusual songwriting. Honeybody sounds like a space-pop reimagining of Lord Invader’s Rum & Coca Cola - whoah. Some really great songs flirt with moments of overly-intricate disaster that nearly derail amazing songwriting. Take the staccato freakouts that intersperse the soaring theremin impressions of Ode To My Next Life. Its best bits sound like Australian band The Night Terrors and those others throw them into a wood chipper.

Honestly? I don’t even hate on the weirdest bits - they’re kinda my jam. It just feels like Kishi Bashi is serving two masters. It's as though Kaori is looking for that same balance that took Animal Collective surging into crossover success. Still, if he hasn’t found it, his experimental stuff actually sounds more convincing than Animal Collective has lately.

Sonderlust is a crazy bit of pop, which is to say, it has quite a lot in common with Kishi Bashi’s other work. Whether it’s enjoyed by the masses or the few - who knows? If you do indulge, the weird and the wonderful await in equal measure.

- Chris Cobcroft.

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