Review Summary: He's still coming into his own, but the pains are still all too evident.
After a while, you have to give credit where it's due: for an artist as self-effacing as Shigeto to endure this long without truly coming into his own is a feat of its own accord, something so unlikely that it seems deliberate. The man born Zach Saginaw has made a career of making music that's just impressive enough to live alongside the works of his genre contemporaries, but never distinct enough to call attention to itself. This all seemed poised to change in 2013 when his sophomore record "No Better Time Than Now" finally started showcasing some of Shigeto's distinct talents and staking out sonic territory. Songs like "Perfect Crime" and "Soul Searching" actually occupied the space they were given and felt like they were distinctly Shigeto. But something's changed, or not changed, in the intervening years, and now Shigeto's back to his old self. For better and for worse.
Maybe this was to be expected for a release as aptly titled as "Intermission." The EP isn't short by any stretch (Opener "Pulse" pushes past the 6 minute mark), but the music itself makes no truly dynamic or impressive shows over the time. The aforementioned "Pulse" moves along quietly until its last minute, when its climax pithily stumbles into the outro. As an opener, it fails to project anything other than reservation, either at its own potential or that of the whole release. The next track, "City Dweller" fares much better, bringing back some of the Rhodes piano that made his last LP more distinct. He also picks up the pace, giving the song an energy and a pulse (pun intended) that "Pulse" didn't. "Gently" unfortunately fails to buck expectations though, with Shigeto channeling his best Boards of Canada for a wispy interlude that fails to deliver on "City Dweller"'s energy. It's an unnecessary track, its superfluousness compounded by the inclusion of the excellent "Do My Thing." And what a shame that "Gently" breaks these two tracks up. "Do My Thing" and "City Dweller" both have an uncanny sort of swagger to them. When listened to back-to-back, they almost sound like they were specifically written to flow together. Had Shigeto made "City Dweller" and "Do My Thing" the EP's first two tracks, removing "Pulse" and "Gently" altogether, he'd have drastically improved the flow of the EP.
The sense that this EP is just filler is only compounded by the inclusion of tracks like "Deep Breathing," "Pulse," and "Gently." They move along quickly enough, each clocking in a two minutes or less. But they fails as interludes by not adequately setting the stage for the tracks that follow. They fail as songs outright by barely progressing or expanding beyond their initial 16-bar loops. And what's truly sad about the fluff of this EP is that, absent those tracks, the EP would actually be a concise and extremely competent expedition into Shigeto's burgeoning signature sound. "Do My Thing" is the best case yet for Shigeto's inclusion among hip-hop luminaries like FlyLo and Teebs, and "Need Nobody" serves as proof of Shigeto's ability to make engaging mood music. "City Dweller," while a teetering a bit too close to the sounds of artists like the Shanghai Restoration Project and early Shlohmo, is still quite a good track, mapping Shigeto's more ambient tones over an interestingly jazzy framework. Had Shigeto trimmed the fat of this EP and worked to improve the flow of some of the tracks, he'd no doubt have a more compelling listen. But as it is, it's still evident that Shigeto is struggling to find his own voice and rise above his contemporaries.
