Toss

“Always leave room for experimentation.” For his newest recording, Shugo Tokumaru chose to take that advice to its most extreme. As a follow-up to the success of the Tokyo-born musician’s 2012 album In Focus?, the multi-instrumentalist decided to head into the studio without a single track idea set. From there, he let fragments of inspiration bloom into what feels like an aural wonderland of neon-toned pop brilliance. Songs like “Taxi” are downright bonkers, decomposing and rebuilding at lightning speed under bouncing, staccato vocal hooks with the brisk enthusiasm of a musical. Appropriately accompanied by Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier, who adds complementary buoyant percussion, the songs accomplish pop sensibility in the most unpredictable ways. “Route” and “Dody” fall into a quieter folk realm, but still hold a high energy in their sparse beats like a sonic mosaic. The album’s audacious, to say the very least, and often hard to pinpoint what direction it’s ever sharply veering into, but that’s its exact brilliant strength.