Tokyo-based artist Sapsei delivers a vibrant urban animation in sound with the debut single “What’s the Difference Between This Fish and That Fish?” The Guangdong-born producer artfully bridges the soulful storytelling of Cantopop with the sophisticated, multi-layered arrangements of the Japanese scene. The track utilizes metaphorical lenses to explore internal freedom, blending breezy city-pop sleekness with glitchy, modern electronic textures for a truly immersive, cross-cultural journey.
A briskly infectious city-pop sound emanates immediately, achieving a rapid interplay between fervent percussion, vibrant strings, and trickling lounge-friendly piano. Vocals appear with sporadic, melodic lushness within the briskly impactful instrumentation, strutting a stop-start type of momentum in gearing to a delectably bouncy expanse just prior to the one-minute turn. There, expressive vocal layers intermingle as spacey synth pulsations venture into light touches of psychedelic organs, reminding fondly of Ringo Sheena in its dynamic, colorfully melodic flair.
A glitchy electronic entrancement takes hold as the track’s conclusion approaches, shifting strikingly from the city-pop sleekness into something more artfully unsettling. There resembling A. G. Cook in its intensely whirring electronic intrigue, that brief interlude then moves seamlessly into a finale that brings back the perky sophisti-pop initial allure. Excelling in both musicianship and melodic immediacy, “What’s the Difference Between This Fish and That Fish?” is a stellar showing from Sapsei.
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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
