Review Summary: "Hear You" marks a bit of a sea change for Toe, but not one that diminishes or hides any of the band's strengths.
While some proclaim this to be the year of the West Coast hip-hop star or Canadian R&B-pop hybrid, I will go on the record and proclaim this as the year of somewhat awkwardly-named Japanese acts. Whether it’s the somewhat unexpected success of KOHH (thanks in part to his incredibly popular feature on Keith Ape's It G Ma) or the emergence of acts like KOSMO KAT, Japanese music is gearing up for its big crossover moment, and Toe is part and parcel of that. The group kicked off a near sold out tour of the United States in support of this album, and the album itself (their third) was picked up by US-based label Topshelf Records for a full physical and digital release. So, all in all, things are shaping up commercially for Toe. But, as with any major transition, there are some contentious changes going on.
The most contentious change to Toe’s style on “Hear You” has been telegraphed for some time, but may still bother some: the inclusion of more vocal-driven work. While “For Long Tomorrow” featured minimal vocals, only really busting out the verse-chorus structure on album standout “Goodbye,” this album makes a much more forceful case for the inclusion of vocals. Four of the album’s eleven tracks feature some type of pronounced vocal (lyrics and all), while two more feature them in a purely atmospheric capacity. For fans of Toe’s purely instrumental work, you’d think this would be a deal breaker. However, unlike some of their previous vocal efforts, the group¬ does a remarkable job of adapting vocals to their aesthetic. Nowhere on here do Toe’s characteristically loose arrangements get whipped into pure pop formation for a vocalist. Even the most “pop” song here, lead single “Song Silly,” features the same kind of loose and introspective soundscapes that have come to characterize their work.
In fact, many of the arrangements here feel more fluid and emotional. “Boyo,” a track that begins in typical Toe form, evolves into something far more touching as its late-song breakdown introduces Hirokazu Yamazaki’s understated vocals. “Commit Ballad” takes its vocalists high pitched but somewhat husky vocals and adapts them to a gut-wrenching display of reserve and elegant tension. The playing on this album, as with any Toe release, is tight and brilliant. There’s never a place on the album where the band’s venerable rhythm section falls flat, nor is these anywhere where their ostinato-based songcraft becomes wearisome. In fact, tracks like “The World According To” and “My Little Wish” show noticeable improvements on their tried-and-true formula, including more satisfying climaxes and shorter, more digestable runtimes.The two-track intro of “Premonition” and “A Desert of Human” gives the album a necessary headiness and momentum that it only slightly loses by the album’s end.
And that loss may be the one thing that keeps “Hear You” from being that much better than “For Long Tomorrow.” Make no mistake, it is an infinitely more accessible and accomplished release, but what really sets it back is its lack of a clear narrative or concept. The music that Toe releases exists in that weird place where it can sound similar or the same to their other works. Acoustic sounding post-rock/jam-rock has unfortunately reached the point of its life as a sub-genre where evolution is either unnecessary or unfulfilling, but part of Toe’s long-lasting appeal is their ability to take these arrangements and breathe a bit of excitement or life into them. This, on its own, couldn’t justify a new album. What “For Long Tomorrow” did, and ultimately did very well, was establish a loose narrative throughout the album that gave the songs context. Each song told its own individual story, but was also part of a larger story. Tracks like “モス*ートンはもう聞こえない #1” and “モス*ートンはもう聞こえない #2” stood on their own, but also served as the connective tissue between headier moments like “Esoteric” and their earthier counterparts like “Last Night” and “Goodbye.” This feeling of cohesion is woefully absent on “Hear You.”
This lack of a true narrative thread can make the songs feel stateless, and with no clear standout like “Goodbye” or “All I Understand Is That I Don’t Understand,” “Hear You” reads more as a collection of good to great songs as opposed to an “album” per se. That’s not to say that none of the songs come close (“Commit Ballad” and “Boyo” start the highlights fairly early, and “Because I Hear You” serves as a beautiful capstone for the album) but none quite cross the finish line in the way that the aforementioned did. Part of this may be due to the band’s’ renewed love of brevity, which is evident in the album’s length (“Hear You” clocks in at just below 40 minutes, merely seconds shorter than their debut).
Despite these gripes, the album does stand as one of the year’s strongest releases. While its somewhat scattered nature does stand in stark opposition to more thematic genre releases (namely To Pimp A Butterfly and Summertime ’06), it does little to diminish the beauty and appeal of the songs themselves. “Hear You,” while falling just short of being the best release of Toe’s career, may be their crossover moment. With a recently wrapped tour, fairly successful string of singles and new label backing, Toe may be set up for their most commercially successful year to date. And luckily, in terms of artistry, there’s little here that indicates that Toe has fallen off, or that they will. “Hear You” easily puts to bed any of those worries.
