On his new album “Sakana＝Sakana” (“Fish=Fish”), singer-songwriter Tokutaro Hosoi plays stylish pop songs, noise, and improvisation at the same time!
He plays and sings with his friends, drummer Shun Ishiwaka (CRCK/LCKS) and guitarist Kimishima Ohzora.
He has started his career as a jazz guitarist. Ohzora once advised him, “You should sing too.” While working with Shun, he said, “Let’s record a song because it would be better if you sing it”.
As a result, he formed with them a band called “Power strip Earphones”, Reisaburo Adachi is another member. Tokutaro also the support guitarist for Honjitsu Kyuuen, and plays in the jazz band SMTK with Shun Ishiwaka.
“Like in a jazz session, we just have a lead, and the rest is made up by the members. So every time we play, we can create something different, constructed through communication with members, and recorded in the studio,” Tokutaro said in an interview for MUSIC MAGAZINE.
In the second half of the album, there are several veteran guest players. In “Loki no Uta” (Loki’s Song), Nanao Tabito sings as a guest singer, expressing his pure love for dogs. Otomo Yoshihide is the guest on the noisy jazz improvisation “Iki wo Shite” (Breathe).
“In the city, machine guns shoot through the walking peace. Oh, I love you. I’ll breathe and live today,” he sings in this clearly anti-war song, as he himself declared.
“Whether it’s rock or jazz, if I can’t express what I feel strongly about, then what’s the point of playing music at all?”, Tokutaro adds. “I tried to pack in all the feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness that arise in daily life, without telling lies.”
Stream “Sakana＝Sakana” LP on Spotify.
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