DKFM favourites Tokyo Shoegazer return with their third full length album, Moonworld Playground. The band consisting of Hiroshi Sasabuchi (Drums), Kiyomi Watanabe (Guitar), Yoshitaka Sugahara (Guitar) and now Rie fu (Vocals) have been busy creating this music since getting back together in 2019 after a six-year hiatus. As a massive fan of Turnaround and Crystalize I was so excited to get the opportunity to get a sneak peak at the new album. So, lets dive in and see what’s what.
The album opens to a wall of deafening feedback, approaching white noise. Slowly from the chaos emerges the opening notes of ‘Felicette’. As we approach the three-minute mark the bass looms into view and sumptuous strings emerge carrying the most beautiful melody with it. This is a bold statement and one that says, you’re about to hear something really special, you’d better buckle in.
The stunning vocals of Rie fu introduce us to ‘Silence’. This starts as a sparse ballad and slowly but surely evolves into full on wall of sound explosion of the final minute. And explode it does. This moment sounds particularly exquisite on headphones. I love how the band never overpower and drown out the vocals. Great mixing.
‘Constellations’ has us in familiar territory with squalls of glide guitar over a fuzzed-out backdrop before settling back the verses. Everything has room to breathe, to just be. The dreamy verses, the powerful and piercing instrumental bridges all exist with and for each other.
We pick the pace up and hit the ground running for ‘The Dreamer’. Here a jangle pop trope is warped and repurposed to work in a heavy shoegaze song. The drums are amazing on this one, creating an off-beat structure for the rest of the band to play around. This one absolutely screams single. Check out the video below.
There’s no respite as we charge headlong in ‘Tokyo Neon Signs’. This song exquisitely captured that big city vibe. Vocals sound massive, as big as skyscrapers, while the guitars emulate the light and dark of city life with a really infectious hook.
‘Lucid’ is its antithesis. We meander joyfully in half time as the guitars and vocals play off each other in gentle harmony. Then the drums stop dramatically, and slowly the band build to a climax so purposeful and dramatic it leaves you breathless.
‘Moondive’ is next. A reworked version of the song from their 2019 Moondiver release. Guitars sounding hewn from the same fabric as The Cure’s Disintegration play against the wonderfully melodic vocals. This is utterly exceptional.
If you’ve been seeking a pop moment on the album then ‘Paradise’ is your song. This is utter exuberant joy start to finish. It’s pacey, catchy and delivers all those feels in all the right places. I can foresee this one becoming a live favourite and is my album standout moment.
The album closes on the simply epic ‘Destroy’. I’m not one for hyperbole, however when a song such as this comes along there simply is no other avenue. ‘Destroy’ is mind-blowing. It’s a game changer. I can imagine a lot of bands will be listening with note pads open. It’s a long, slow journey of a song which just builds and builds until we return, full circle, to the wall of deafening feedback we began the album with. It’s sheer poetry.
Moonworld Playground is an absolute joy from end to end. It’s beautifully performed and produced. What really struck me was how immersed in the music you become, how invested and attached to each song. That in itself speaks of the love and care that has been poured into this album, but it’s also an example of how great music gains a life of its own once recorded. Tokyo Shoegazer haven’t ‘done it again’, no one has done this before. They’ve taken their sound somewhere new and exciting, and it’s an honour to experience that.
Moonworld Playground will be available from June 8 from their label Vinyl Junkie Recordings. Make sure to follow the band on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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