Five years ago with Omoiyari, Karou Ishibashi (under the project name Kishi Bashi) released the most meaningful album of his career. Taking the tragic event in World War II when over 100,000 Japanese-Americans were falsely imprisoned as a catalyst to reflect on his oriental heritage and the idea of compassion, Omoiyari was a intellectually passionate project accompanied by a touching documentary. Kishi Bashi returns pumped with the musically electrifying yet conceptually confused Kantos.
While the phrase Omoiyari translates as consideration and is deeply rooted in Japanese mentality, the word Kantos is derived from many sources; a respelling of the Spanish word for singing (canto), the name of a series of science fiction novels by American writer Dan Simmons (Hyperion Cantos), epiphanic trip to a Greek island (Crete) and from an 18th century German philosopher who promoted ideas such as moral freedom and peace (Immanuel Kant). Karou Ishibashi’s interest in philosophy likely heightened his recent marriage to second wife American philosopher Kimberly Dill. Knowing this information makes Kantos already sound like an album that is scrapbooking ideas from too many different directions and hoping they will bring something valid to say. With the music within also being polychromatic (Brazilian jazz-funk, arena rock, rap, Japanese TV theme soundtrack) and Kishi Bashi labelling his fifth album as a party album in interviews, perhaps it is meant to be just enjoyed with an exhilarating rush rather than the chin-stroking contemplation of its thought-provoking predecessor. Even if Ishibashi has something engrossing to say on the latest LP though – along with the various mentions of love – it could possibly be drowned by the exhilarating non-stop musical thrill ride (with the exception of the forgettable slow-paced ‘Call It Off’) that we travel on from start to finish.
Kantos’ party atmosphere is created through the surprising genre choices and collaborations. Kishi Bashi’s trademark use of manipulated violin and cello is thankfully still present. In fact the instruments make their appearance right from off on intro ‘Violin Akai’; the cellist Emily Hope Price, formally of New York City folk trio Pearl and the Beard displays her skills on two other tracks as well. American rapper and political campaigner Linqua Franqa joins Karou Ishibashi’s own rapping on R&B song – backed by reverberating keyboard that recalls Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime – ‘Make Believe’, saxophonist Augie Bello and Grenadian gospel singer Zorina Andall take over on the Jungle–reminiscent (the album is mixed by Jungle collaborator Tucan) and celebratory soul-dance ‘Lilliputian Chop’. Like the methodology used on Sinkane’s latest album We Belong, it is as if Karou Ishibashi has disappeared into the background and taken on more of a producer role. Percussionist Gabriel Rodriguez, electric pianist Graham Richards and flutist Pip The Pansy are bought in on Kantos’ most pleasant listen ‘Analógico Brasil’. The synchronisation of the scatting with the instruments is a delightful. Inspired by George Duke’s 1980 jazz-fusion record Brazilian Love Affair, it is a commentary on producers who embrace analog instruments from yesteryear and therefore reject the AI movement.
A key collaboration is on ‘Icarus IV’, as Karou Ishibashi is joined by the daughter of his first marriage Sola. This is one of the many songs on Kantos that introduces a refreshing rockier edge to his music. During the pandemic, Kishi Bashi got a Fender Strat – a type of electric guitar that has been associated with the likes of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chilli Peppers. On the aforementioned Icarus IV it could make one think of Van Halen composing the music to a science fiction fantasy film – although the song is a re-telling of the fatal journey of Icarus and Dadealus as they flew away from Crete. That and ‘Colorful State’ have real crowd sing-along potential, with latter performance being more a kin to The Killers, although the violin at the end brings back to Kishi Bashi Land. “We can live on and on and spreading the songs of the colorful state of your heart” is another remark on AI taking over song creation. It would have been great and timely if the American musician clearly explored this concept on the whole of Kantos.
‘Chiba Funk’ and ‘Tokyo Love Story (Love Story Wa Totsuzen Ni)’ are songs in which Karou Ishibashi sings half in English, half in Japanese. The former has fascinating pace shifts through its transition from funk rock to harmonic folk. As the folkier moments are reminiscent of ‘Penny Rabbit and Summer Bear’ from Omoiyari, it bridges this new album with its precursor well. The latter is Kishi Bashi’s take on the theme tune to the 1991 Japanese Manga-adaption TV drama Tokyo Love Story – originally sung by Kazumasa Oda, the oldest singer in Japanese chart history to achieve a No.1 album – except this time he freshens it up by adding a little bit of English to make western listeners understand the meaning of the words. It’s a sweet end to Kishi Bashi’s latest effort Kantos but its somewhat random inclusion ultimately sums up the record’s problem of being musically enriching but lyrically directionless.
