Kishi Bashi has been producing left-of-center, violin-infused art-pop as a solo artist for over a decade at this point, recently returning from a period of film and TV soundtrack work to announce his fifth album and first full-length since 2019’s Omoiyari. The singles landing ahead of Kantos position the record as an epic release not only in their dramatic and expansive sound, but also due to their narrative structures, which tap into Greek mythology on the second track arriving ahead of the LP, “Icarus IV.” Landing somewhere between new wave and symphonic prog, the track’s lyrics take inspiration from the titular tragic figure and Madeline Miller’s 2018 novel Circe, which similarly riffs on a number of familiar Greek myths.
Given the song’s strong storytelling and vintage feel, its music video takes the form of a bold quest told through the format of 8-bit RPG wherein the violin-wielding titular character encounters a series of characters as he struggles to get the band back together. “This song always spoke to me visually of an epic journey,” shares the songwriter who, incidentally, began his career fronting the post-punk revivalists Jupiter One. “And with my love of animation and video games, I decided to spin an alternate tale of Icarus, set in a fantastical psycho-Greek world where it heralds the trials of the return of the prodigal son, Icarus, who has come back after abandoning his band to seek fame and fortune in a solo project. While the story may or may not be autobiographical, the feelings may be relatable to those who have left and those who have been left behind.”
Regarding the visual’s realistic feel as a lost SNES classic, he adds: “I hired talented pixel art character animators and edited and animated this video. This can be seen as an extension of my Omoiyari ‘song film’ concept, where I believe the vision for the song extends beyond just the music and into the visual realm.”
Check out the video below, and pre-order Kantos ahead of its August 23 release via Joyful Noise here. You can also find all of Kishi Bashi’s upcoming tour dates here.
