SHIGETO NEW TRACK ‘OLIVIA’ ONLINE NOW - ALBUM ‘NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW’ OUT NOW ON GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL LABEL
In anticipation of his new album ‘No Better Time Than Now’, which is penned for release on August 19th through Ghostly International, Shigeto has revealed a beautiful new track from said record.
‘Olivia’ takes you on emotional venture into the new works of Shigeto. It’s a song made for reflection with warm oozes of liquid-synths, gentle percussion and comforting twinkles of delicate beats. With a slight interlude halfway through, it represents the importance of change and living in the moment, a proverb that is incredibly important, but nevertheless, often overlooked.
The sense of the restless vigor that change can bring is palpable throughout No Better Time Than Now and to coincide with this, Shigeto has announced news of a competition where fans are invited to use the hashtags ‘#nobettertime’ and '#shigeto' as a ‘seize the day’ call to action across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ & Vine. The public are asked to use the hashtags to make a personal statement of what there is no better time than now for them to do in their lives, for the chance of winning concert tickets and Shigeto merchandise. Shigeto will go on to choose a winner on the album release date. All images will be collected at http://iamshigeto.com/ as people share their inspirational photos.
"2012 was a powerful year for me. I released my second LP; I played nearly 180 shows in 360 days; I made the move back home from Brooklyn, NY to Detroit, MI; a six-year relationship of mine came to an end and I made it 30 years on the planet."
The music of Zach Saginaw, aka Shigeto, has always been deeply rooted in his personal history. His debut EPs Semi-Circle and What We Held Onto explored his grandmother’s experience from a US internment camp through ambient, beat driven tracks, nostalgic melodies and spliced vocal samples, including his grandmother’s vocals.
His debut album Full Circle became a culmination of these EPs and further refinement of obsessive field recording and meticulous percussion, creating lush, sumptuous instrumental hip-hop. 2012’s sophomore album Lineage was a musical journey through his heritage combined with the sounds of jazz, hip-hop, funk and folk. The cover of his great grandfather's house in Hiroshima even adorned the Lineage artwork.
For all that Saginaw reveres his connections to his past, however, his new album seems very much about the idea of living in the moment. The signs of this idea are all over No Better Time Than Now— from the obvious connotations of the album title, through song titles that seem harbingers of change and immediacy ("First Saturn Return," "Soul Searching") to the music itself. It's an album that reflects a pivotal year in the life of its creator.
Fans of Shigeto's previous work will find all the hallmarks of his sound in his new album — the warm, inviting washes of liquid synth sounds, the intricate production, the jazz-influenced arrangements. Now, however, they're imbued with a subtle energy — "Detroit Part 1," for instance, features a surprisingly pounding hip hop beat, while "Ringleader" is propelled by an insistent hi-hat pattern that sits slightly ahead of the beat, giving the track a driving mood that belies its tempo.
No Better Time Than Now tracklist:
First Saturn Return
Detroit Part 1
Ringleader
Perfect Crime
Olivia
Miss U
Ritual Howl
Soul Searching
Safe In Here
No Better Time Than Now
Silver Lining
Tell a Tale
Links:
No Better Time Than Now artwork
Ghostly International web site