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Animaru
Animaru in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $15.99
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Size: CD
Around the time she was finishing up a degree in jazz guitar from the Berklee College of Music,
Mei Semones
put together a band made up of classmates and recorded her first EP,
Tsukino
(2022). It introduced her sophisticated, strings-enhanced take on affectionate indie pop. By the time she made her
Bayonet Records
debut with her second EP,
Kabutomushi
, in 2024, she had a regular, collaborative backing band made up of a violist (constant member and strings arranger
Noah Leong
), violinist, bassist, and drummer, and had strengthened her beguiling sound -- specifically, an indie pop injected with an effortless blend of breezy bossa nova, intricate jazz, and mathy indie rock. Another idiosyncrasy of her music is lyrics that go back and forth between English and Japanese within a song (
Semones
grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, speaking Japanese with her mother). Arriving less than a year after
, her full-length debut,
Animaru
("Animal"), sees
again rachet up the complexity of her singular sound and her songcraft. It begins with "Dumb Feeling," an uptempo, indie-inflected bossa tune with the album's first surprise scat break. While a few of the songs here are somewhat confrontational, this one isn't, embracing that weird feeling ("There's something I like about it"). Later, "Tora Moyo" ("Tiger") is a love song to music and her guitar. It sounds like a possible movie theme from the '60s -- at least until the noodly guitar solo -- as she sweetly sings with a wispy voice made for twee, "My hands are yours/No other use for them/If this isn't love." That song is the perfect setup for the stunning "I Can Do What I Want," a virtuosic showstopper that may have invented the style kawaii prog. There, she establishes a casual confidence that's part of the album's charm, balancing out its more pining moments. Another example of this interplay is the regretful "Rat with Wings," which admits, "Sometimes I miss you still/Even though you were a rat," before firmly declaring, amid orchestral hard rock riffs, that she'll never want them back. Elsewhere, "Zarigani" ("Crayfish") is a tribute to non-romantic love, namely hers for her twin sister, and "Donguri" ("Acorns") offers a bit of a breather with a stripped-back arrangement of guitar and upright bass underscoring
' fantasy of life as a woodland creature. Throughout
,
and her band play with dynamics, dramatic pauses, chord voicings, harmonics, and a steady stream of surprises -- the closer is a waltz -- resulting in a memorable debut that's much more likely to delight than challenge. ~ Marcy Donelson
Mei Semones
put together a band made up of classmates and recorded her first EP,
Tsukino
(2022). It introduced her sophisticated, strings-enhanced take on affectionate indie pop. By the time she made her
Bayonet Records
debut with her second EP,
Kabutomushi
, in 2024, she had a regular, collaborative backing band made up of a violist (constant member and strings arranger
Noah Leong
), violinist, bassist, and drummer, and had strengthened her beguiling sound -- specifically, an indie pop injected with an effortless blend of breezy bossa nova, intricate jazz, and mathy indie rock. Another idiosyncrasy of her music is lyrics that go back and forth between English and Japanese within a song (
Semones
grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, speaking Japanese with her mother). Arriving less than a year after
, her full-length debut,
Animaru
("Animal"), sees
again rachet up the complexity of her singular sound and her songcraft. It begins with "Dumb Feeling," an uptempo, indie-inflected bossa tune with the album's first surprise scat break. While a few of the songs here are somewhat confrontational, this one isn't, embracing that weird feeling ("There's something I like about it"). Later, "Tora Moyo" ("Tiger") is a love song to music and her guitar. It sounds like a possible movie theme from the '60s -- at least until the noodly guitar solo -- as she sweetly sings with a wispy voice made for twee, "My hands are yours/No other use for them/If this isn't love." That song is the perfect setup for the stunning "I Can Do What I Want," a virtuosic showstopper that may have invented the style kawaii prog. There, she establishes a casual confidence that's part of the album's charm, balancing out its more pining moments. Another example of this interplay is the regretful "Rat with Wings," which admits, "Sometimes I miss you still/Even though you were a rat," before firmly declaring, amid orchestral hard rock riffs, that she'll never want them back. Elsewhere, "Zarigani" ("Crayfish") is a tribute to non-romantic love, namely hers for her twin sister, and "Donguri" ("Acorns") offers a bit of a breather with a stripped-back arrangement of guitar and upright bass underscoring
' fantasy of life as a woodland creature. Throughout
,
and her band play with dynamics, dramatic pauses, chord voicings, harmonics, and a steady stream of surprises -- the closer is a waltz -- resulting in a memorable debut that's much more likely to delight than challenge. ~ Marcy Donelson
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