Review: Album a love letter to humans

Four and a Half out of Five Stars

By Sophia Potter
Editor In Chief

Kishi Bashi’s most recent album, “Kantos,” is “a party album about the possible end of humanity as we know it,” according to the artist himself.

At first listen, the album moves in so many directions it was hard to highlight a larger theme, other than Kishi Bashi’s love for jazz in all forms.

Both “Chiba Funk” and “Tokyo Love Story” are sung in Japanese. Some tracks like “Late Night Comic” and “Icarus IV” are very synth forward, while other songs like “Violin Akai” and “Analógico Brasil” heavily feature stringed and percussive instruments.

As it turns out, the idea that the album is a love letter to music in general is not too far off.

“If there’s anything I want people to come away with when they hear this record, it’s a feeling of excitement about the possibilities of human-created art,” said Kaoru Ishibashi, the solo artist behind Kishi Bashi.

Much of Ishibashi’s inspiration for the album came from The “Hyperion Cantos,” a set of space opera novels written by Dan Simmons that explores a society where humans are surrendering their humanity to AI.

“Even with so much technological advancement, songs are still something we very much rely on to connect with other people,” he said.

“Kantos” is not just a love letter to music and the art of making it – it is a love letter to humanity, to all of us, and the things we are able to make together.

Fifteen people are credited in having helped create “Kantos,” either as vocalists or playing one (or more) of the 20-plus instruments featured on the album.

Some of the songs that did not seem to fit the first listen through made a lot of sense with this new lens.

“Lilliputian Chop” is a funky, nearly disco track featuring fun upbeat vocals from Zorina Andall and a killer saxophone performance from Augie Bellow. The lyrics heavily reference the joy in simply moving to the beat, and getting to experience being human.

Two of the songs that made the most sense to me with this new lens were “Icarus IV” and “Call It Off.” Both have very solemn tones and lyrics (and Ishibashi has been happily married for a number of years).

It feels clear listening now that the real warning these songs are both trying to give is that we do not give up on ourselves, or one another, as the world changes around us.

“There’s a great deal of value in human innovation: if we don’t value our humanity, what are we valuing at all?”