Dance Music for Space Travelers
Listening to Fujita & Miyagi’s EP2 is like entering a galactic therapy session. You’ll be asked to reflect on the pace of your life, and encouraged to admit that it seems to be moving at an unwieldy speed. Your confidence will be dragged under a microscope, as will the various insecurities that you find unshakable. Thankfully, there’s to be no judgement. This EP is about solidarity, about getting you to look your troubles in the eye and shake hands, and then consummate your newfound tranquility by dancing to Krautrock-inspired electronic dance music. It’s effective, but mostly to the degree that you can appreciate multilayered synthesizers and effects which sound sampled from the nearby solar system.
EP2 follows EP1 as the second in a trio of EPs to be released by the Brighton, England quartet, with the final installment slated for release early next year (you have one attempt to try to guess its title). With a four song track list and a run time of 18 minutes, EP2 wastes no time getting into the thick of their pulsating, expansive sound, blasting off with “Outstripping (The Speed Of Light)”. In a recent interview, lead vocalist David Best expressed his desire for the song to be nothing short of “life-affirming. I see it as a wake up call for us to appreciate what we have.” A tall order for a 2:49 second track, but the restless energy and propulsion of the drums make it hard to say they didn’t try. “R.S.I.”, standing for “repetitive strain injury,” carries on the energy of the opening number but slowly transforms into a jam-band tune, liquefying the hard-edged beat and letting the instruments play off each other for hypnotic effect. “Swoon” engages with the poetic refrain, “Does your whole body swoon to uninterrupted views of electric blue drained swimming pools?”, while “Extended Dance Mix” dips into meta territory, in which the band reflects on their perceived declining relevance, but then, in keeping with the spirit of the EP, resolves to shrug it off with dance.
EP2 is merely the midsection of an incomplete arc. Where Fujita & Miyagi decide to go from here is anybody’s guess, but you can always pre-order a copy of their latest EP and try to figure it out yourself.
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