Asobi Seksu - Fluorescence
- Written by Paul Faller
It's always nice when a band you'd half-forgotten about shows up with a new record to remind you of their existence - and so it was for me when I heard that Asobi Seksu's fourth album, Fluorescence, was due to be released early this year. I adored the band's second record, Citrus, but 2009's follow-up Hush somehow passed me by completely (and quite undeservedly too, now I've gone back and listened to it).
The opening track is, however, indicative of a wider attempt by the band to add new elements to their sound. 'Trails' opens with guitars that sound more like Placebo's 'Nancy Boy' than anything from Citrus, while 'Counterglow' dips its toe in the waters of dubstep with an electronic 2-step beat. Happily, such experimentation hasn't come at a cost, as the band never abandon the things that made their songs great in the first place. 'My Baby' starts with quirky, staccato keyboards, but ends as a glorious, galloping wall of sound, while 'Perfectly Crystal' masquerades as an 80s-tinged synth pop number before showing its true colours with a muscular guitar driven chorus.
Yuki Chikudate's vocals are still as effortlessly beautiful as ever, making even a mundane looking lyric like "My baby doesn't love me anymore" seem poignant - so when she's presented with a more interesting and abstract concept ('In My Head') or even just a song with more emotional weight ('Trails'), her voice is truly mesmerising. It's a nice contrast when guitarist James Hanna does take lead vocals on 'Counterglow', but it almost feels like a missed opportunity to showcase Yuki's voice.
The record ends on a high note with two tracks that tend back towards a more 'classic' Asobi Seksu sound. 'Trance Out' is a giddy, shoegaze headrush and is one of the few times on Fluorescence that Yuki sings in Japanese, and 'Pink Light' ends the record with a graceful, understated ballad, with the instrumentation reined in just enough to really bring Yuki's voice to the forefront.
Fluorescence demonstrates that Asobi Seksu still haven't lost the art of creating captivating shoegaze/dream-pop tunes, maintaining a faithfulness to their previous records whilst simultaneously adding new elements to their sound. Both long-time fans and complete newcomers alike will find a lot to love here.