Asobi Seksu

Being a product of the nineties has had tremendous impact on my life, musically speaking. So the fact that Asobi Seksu reminds me of one of my most beloved bands from that decade (ahem, The Cranberries) just adds to their splendor and retrospective sentiment, and of course, my love for them.Fluorescence leaves behind the whimsical garage fuzz that defined Asobi Seksu back in the days of Citrus (circa 2007) and takes the plunge into the depths of pure shoegaze bliss. Asobi Seksu has this brilliant ability to dichotomously separate the emotion created by the instruments from the emotion contained in the vocals. Just when the music has you zoned into pure head-gazing goodness, Yuki's vocals come along and rapture you off to some vibrant new place in the song, a place that you may have otherwise not noticed.Yuki Chikudate's voice is vintage, it's sweet, and it's everything you want to hear when it comes to a chic indie-rock front woman. Not to discredit James Hanna; it's a nice change of audio scenery when he takes vocal reign. For example, "Counterglow" is one of my favorite songs on this album. I just love these two together. They're a musical match made in indie-lovers heaven.The song you're previewing today is called "Trails." The track itself is soooo pretty! It's sad too, sadly beautiful. I simply cannot get enough of it. The lyrics are equally beautiful as well:I've got nothing to showin these hands of mineBut I've no reasons left to stay behindOh, please, don't let me leave this lifeAnd let the light come inOh, let the light come inI can't look beyondTo the endSo I'll turn to look behindThese strings I can't untieHow come you have no reasonsLeft to stay with meBut please, don't leave me here with nothingAnd let the light come inOh, let the light come inThere's no reason why to look at me so sadlyWhen I cry for youThese noises are so maddeningThe light burns the hallwaysScreaming out for youIt's nothing short of pure goodness to my soul!Fluorescence drops February 15, and the band is also making their way around the US on tour, so make sure to visit their website to see when they get to your town. I'll be hitting up their show on March 9 at the Troubadour here in LA, so stop back by for a live review by yours truly. Or better yet, go see them yourself, and keep coming back!