The sounds of Jo Hirabayashi’s upcoming LP under his Jo Passed moniker are anything but straightforward—but then again, the subject matter that inspired Away can also be tough to wrap your head around. Take new single “Precious Word,” for example: The track feels firmly rooted in the Toronto art-punk tradition of meticulously bending post-punk riffs into gnarled and unpredictable new forms. The lyrics, though, are unique to Hirabayashi’s latest chapter, focusing on the cognitive behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis sessions he’s recently undergone. “[W]e focused on analyzing words to understand how internal pressures or narratives are formed,” he shares. “The words we use really shape how we feel, see, and experience the world. This song is a playful take on that idea.”
Away lands over seven years after Jo Passed’s Sub Pop debut, with the instrumental and thematic changes fully evident in both of the singles that have been released so far. Going deeper into the concept behind “Precious Word,” Hirabayashi adds that certain enlightenments regarding fabric are responsible for the lyrics. “In psychoanalysis, clothing can symbolize power, desire, and lack, often relating to concepts like fetishism and the urge to cover or reveal the body. ‘Precious Word’ connects language to clothing, suggesting that forming words and concepts in the mind is similar to how fabrics and clothes relate to the body. On the lighter side of this, we have the realization of beautiful ideas and ideals; the darker side presents as authoritarian orders of the mind over the body.”
Lastly, Hirabayashi shouts out Loving drummer Justin Devries for adding to the song’s frantic pace: “During the recording of Away, I initially wanted to use drum machines and samples instead of live drums. I programmed all the parts and recorded everything on top of them, trying to make the computer sound as human as possible. Eventually, my friend Justin recorded the drums. For ’Precious Word,’ I gave him my programmed parts, hoping he’d interpret them and make them more idiomatic for the drums. Instead, he learned the part exactly, dooming every drummer who has to play this song live. His decision to learn something a computer could do plays well into the overall concept of this song.”
Check out the video Hirabayashi created for “Precious Word” below—full of equations and data and numbers, as well as precious few words—and pre-order Away ahead of its January 23 release via Youth Riot Records here.
