New Single -Meet the Sun- Featuring Shêm Allen- Out Soon

[Written by Tom].

We’ve been busy. Our new tune, Meet the Sun, featuring the magnificent Shêm Allen, is due for release imminently: 25 January 2023 (yep, really soon!). It’s being delivered to you by none other than our very good friends at 4000 Records. Only a couple of weeks following that, we’ve got a special treat for you, with a music video for that same song. Who even makes music videos in 2023? We do!

This song is about taking risks. Artists do crazy things, like when a young lady moves from her country of birth to an entirely new continent, to find new friends and build a new family, and following a dream. But Nozomi is going to tell you about that in our next blog post, written during her most recent visit to Japan, her original home. And this song continues our tradition of bilingual lyrics – thanks to Noz and the help of Japanese-speaking friends, Paul and Tamiko Endo-Williams, our single is delivered with English and Japanese sections.

Like all our music, Meet the Sun features electronics and percussion, which results in a hybrid texture and sound that is uniquely Shugorei. Nozomi, once again, is in charge of a staggering battery of hittable apparatuses, while I continue to push my craft in composing, sampling and synthesis. But unique to this production is the contribution of Shêm Allen, whose soulful delivery makes this song completely distinct amongst our output.

As he begins, he moves into another world, crossing that boundary that many great performers do, to become separate from our immediate reality, and being transfigured into a new being. While still that person Shêm, he is now, somehow, a bigger human.

I have heard Shêm’s recordings and thought them astounding. But it wasn’t until quite recently that I had the privilege of witnessing his live performance and understood the depth of his artistry. Only a few short weeks ago, Shugorei supported Nonsemble for their album launch. Noz and I were delighted to see Nonsemble perform; they were tight, animated, electric and enthralling (you really should go check out their album Archaeopteryx). I was spellbound. Shêm joined them on stage for one song. (By the way, if you want to hear Nonesemble and Shêm, there is this incredible work called Bricks.)

Immediately after that show we agreed to collaborate. We knew it would work, straight away. I started working on a song immediately. Shêm came over to the studio and laid it all down inside two hours. It was as I imagined, except better. He has this sensitivity which is his own and no one else’s. It’s something to do with an honesty. . . maybe a little of the real world. . . and, I don’t know, but some hurt . . . that comes through for me. But I’d let him write about that, and I’ll hope that you listen.

Adding a layer of splendour are our friends, Camille and Dan from Black Square Quartet. I can’t resist a little counterpoint, even in a pop tune. Is it pop? What is pop? What is music? Lol. You tell me; the older I get, the more I do, the less I know. What I do know is these two have gifted us the most sumptuous layers of creamy strings.

Before our release we’re going to offer you a few little teasers, and more for you to understand this work. Noz will be next in supplying a blog post, written during her time in Japan (she’s there right now!). Stay tuned for more.

We’re taking this opportunity to start up a mailing list. If you want, just enter your email. This is purely to get you info about new releases and gigs. We won’t spam it though. If you sign up you’ll get an email from us no more often than every few months – only important stuff that we figure you wanna know about, like a reminder about our new tune.