New Sound, Refreshing Lyrics from Lo-Fi’s Recently Released Album, Stereo Soul

Jazz. Funk. Blues. Breakbeats. Soul.

This is how the Japanese trio Lo-Fi describes their music. Even during singing breaks, the instrumentals by 5 (pronounced Goh; vocals and bass guitar), Yosh (drums), and Nori (keyboard) are ridiculously relaxing. After hearing that their new album, Stereo Soul, was available for download, I purchased it along with their previously released album, Low-Fidelity EP. To the left is a screenshot of the trio’s two albums in the iTunes Japan top jazz albums section. Sales of Stereo Soul, ranked #8, also saw increased sale of Low-Fidelity EP, ranked #18.

I listen to a lot of music, but Lo-Fi’s sound is completely new to me. What’s strange, though, is that the melody sounds familiar, but not familiar like I’ve heard it before; it’s more familiar like I should’ve already heard it. The drums and the keyboard are well balanced, but there’s also times when one of the instruments is deliberately the focus—almost like a solo but with background music.

A huge influence on whether or not I enjoy listening to the artist is whether I feel a connection with their lyrics. In Stereo Soul, the lyrics touch on topics like war, love, social issues, dealing with personal struggles, and friendships, which really draws me in and makes me want to listen. The words are almost like short influential pieces either from a personal view or from a broader perspective.

Just another proof of how social media really connects people and drives others to different experiences, I found out about Lo-Fi on Twitter through 5. Other than Twitter, the trio is active on other social networks, with accounts on Facebook, MySpace, Mixi, YouTube. They also have a website in Japanese and English, a mobile website in Japanese, and 5 blogs regularly both in Japanese and English. I think it’s great that they’re reaching out on so many networks and in two languages; that takes a lot of hard work!

I highly suggest buying Lo-Fi’s album—either on iTunes or on CD Baby. If you’re still skeptical, listen to the previews available on either of those music sites or watch the group’s live performance below. It was this artistic flavor—and this video in particular—that really turned me on to the trio’s music.

"Make That Change" is from Lo-Fi's Low-Fidelity EP, available on iTunes.

After listening to Stereo Soul from an amateur listener’s point of view, here’s how I would describe Lo-Fi’s sound:

Smooth. Social. Spoken word. Mellow hip hop. Familiar.

 

*Looking for this post in Japanese? A translated version of it is on my Mixi blog (Mixi account required). Thanks for translating it, Yang!