Review Summary: Razzling and dazzling in vain
Those who are familiar with Kishi Bashi know that the man’s career has been one of consistent evolution. From the bouncy strings, fluttering violins, and gleeful falsetto of
151a/
Lighght to the pop/electronically-tinged/synth beauty of
Sonderlust and the heartfelt, pastoral ode to his heritage on
Omoiyari, Kaoru Ishibashi has seemingly done it all. With few sounds in his arsenal left unexplored, it would have been understandable for him to fall back on one of his more successful endeavors, or perhaps blend them into something representative of his whole career. While his fifth full-length,
Kantos, does a little bit of the latter, it is mostly a push in yet another new direction. First, the good news: the sweeping strings/epic guitars/massive vocal swells return intact. The bad news is that those once-beloved traits now sound overly commercialized, and the lush folk that made
Omoiyari one of his greatest achievements has vanished from the menu entirely. What we’re left with is a hollowed out shell of
Lighght – it’s got a similarly lustrous surface, but when you crack it open, it’s empty.
The warning signs were there all along: ‘Make Believe’ was an interesting choice as a pre-release single, with hip-hop influences and verses from guest rapper Linqua Franqa. It was an exceedingly obvious (red) flag that
Kantos was going to push Kishi Bashi in a
far more mainstream direction. ‘Colorful State’ was more of an innocuous choice as a single, but the Coldplay-esque
whoah oh’s that filled the background were still a sign that the album was going to be a simplified version of the Kishi Bashi we knew. ‘Lilliputian Chop’ – a bustling and jazzy but also handclappy and overly busy single – conjured images of automobile commercials and shopping mall soundtracks all at the same time and in the worst way. The only real glimmer of hope came via ‘Icarus IV’, a percussively-driven rocker with an addictive groove reminiscent of a modern Electric Light Orchestra. Yes…if most of album could have just be like that, maybe we would have something here – and maybe someday Kishi Bashi will completely lean into that unexpectedly great classic rock vibe. Unfortunately, the vast majority of
Kantos sounds like the other three singles: hyper, polished, and extra flimsy.
Part of the problem is the drumming. If you listen to the album in order, you’ll notice that the tempo is nearly identical across the board – a mid-paced pulse that clashes in a weird way with Kishi Bashi’s renowned energy. ‘Chiba Funk’, ‘Late Night Comic’, ‘Colorful State’, ‘Make Believe’, and ‘Tokyo Love Story’ for all intents and purposes share the same beat, making it difficult to distinguish between individual tracks on the album. When Kishi Bashi breaks out of this mold – and isn’t incorporating rappers or implementing elevator jazz into the mix – the quality increases sharply and noticeably. Take ‘Escape from Knossos’ for instance, which is driven by wailing electric guitars, bursts of avalanching drums, and violins that absolutely
dance, and we’re reminded of why Kishi Bashi at the top of his game is truly unmatched – unfortunately, that track is barely more than a minute and a half long. ‘Call It Off’ is a hidden gem, mostly because it slows things down and allows Kishi Bashi’s solemn, soul-filled voice to carry the entire atmosphere. When
Kantos succeeds, it’s mostly because it cuts out the extravaganza of overproduction and overinstrumentation, allowing Ishibashi to introduce accents more organically while his music unfurls. He’s a gifted songwriter, but when his pieces are given no room to breathe, and populated with elements that go distinctly
against the grain of what he actually does best, it’s a tough sell.
Kantos isn’t all bad, but it is his worst album yet. It’s somehow both too cluttered and more conventional at the same time, and the lyrics, while pretty most of the time, don’t hit as hard as they did on this record’s predecessor. Kaoru Ishibashi’s fifth LP simply feels like a misguided project, almost as if he took a bunch of his most questionable ideas and decided to place them under one roof. It has its moments, but
Kantos registers as a disappointingly disposable release from an artist who has done much better, and almost certainly will again in the future.
