It’s taken awhile, but the Cibo Matto reunion is finally bearing fruit. Album-y fruit, anyway. We’ve gotten some quality tours out of the duo, but now, at last, they’re giving us a new album. Hotel Valentine is due to drop in February, details below.
Formed in the 90’s by Japanese expats Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori, Cibo Matto’s (Italian for “crazy food”) earned themselves a modest cult following with their odd brand of spacey pop songs, which were generally about food. The band broke up in 2002, disappointing fans and probably devastating food-and-music lovers everywhere.
Hopes were high for a new album when the pair got back together in 2011 and began touring again, a campaign that saw them rubbing shoulders with Japanese and American musicians alike.
But no album came – until now. Honda explained the move as a product of chemistry:
“Hotel Valentine is the cinematic bricolage of Yuka and me. Our medium is music. For me, making an album is like raising a child. We don’t know what kind of person (story) they will end up to be.
“‘Hotel Valentine’ was the first song we wrote together for this album. It thus represents the genesis of our concept or story, but in a way it seems that explaining too much would prevent listeners from coming to their own conclusions about each song as well as about the whole project. Yes, there is a ghost girl, a hotel, housekeeping ladies and things happen. But they are elusive in nature.
“Having spent some time apart, we became more aware of our magical chemistry, our magnetic bond. We both realized we had unfinished business.”
Not only has Hotel Valentine confirmed for release, but Cibo Matto also streamed a new music video. “MFN” is quirky, colorful, and should really come with a warning for photosensitive viewers. Video below. But seriously, lots of flashing lights, don’t say we didn’t tell you.
Hotel Valentine
01. Check In
02. Deja Vu
03. 10th Fl.Ghost Girl
04. Emerald Tuesday
05. MFN
06. Hotel Valentine
07. Empty Pool
08. Lobby
09. Maid Song (House Keeping)
10. Check Out
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