Legendary indie travellers, Half Japanese release their new album ‘Adventure’ on 11th July on Fire Records. The prolific outsider combo, helmed by unswerving optimist Jad Fair deliver a heart-warming set of upbeat sonnets celebrating the power of love, affection and maturity.
‘Lemonade Sunset’ is an ode to the world of wonder, a spacious overture built with melancholy in mind but relishing the positivity of life, it sounds like it’s straight from an 80s rom com when the characters realise that everything’s going to be just fine.
Jad: “When I wrote the lyrics to Lemonade Sunset two songs came to mind, the Louis Armstrong’s song ‘It’s A Wonderful World’ and Syd Barrett’s ‘Baby Lemonade’, it’s a bit of a nod to those songs.”
It arrives two years after the acclaimed opus ‘Jump Into Love’…
More than 50 years since Jad and his brother David emerged from their lo-fi bedroom in Uniontown, Maryland, USA, ‘Adventure’ takes the latest incarnation of the band on a trip down new and more refined avenues.
Jad: “All of our albums are meant to be joyful. I have a good life and I’m thankful for it.”
Recorded in London at Vacant TV and produced by Jason Willett and Jad, with four days more than the band would usually take to deliver their intimate brand of left field pop; ‘Adventure’ presents a more pristine and polished canvas for Jad to expand on. The services of Euan Hinshelwood added to the sonic palette with saxophone, harmonica and piano adding a smoother backdrop for the band’s less lubricated sound.
Half Japanese for ‘Adventure’ were Jason Willett (bass, keyboards), Gilles-Vincent Rieder (drums, percussion), John Sluggett (guitar, piano, bass), Mick Hobbs (guitar), Euan Hinshelwood (guitar, saxophone, piano, harmonica) and Jad Fair (vocals, percussion). Sadly, longstanding member, Mick Hobbs passed away last year.
Jad: “Mick was in ill health at the time of the recording session and wasn’t feeling well enough to play on some of the songs, he was in Half Japanese for over 30 years. He was a close friend.”
“A cavalcade of curiosities, a den of delight, a whole other world where grunge stayed open-hearted and open to misinterpretation” Classic Rock
“Half Japanese continue a run of fine late career albums.” The Quietus
‘Adventure’ is out 11th July. Available in Limited Edition Cream Vinyl and CD.
