Fuubutsushi - Meridians (2024) [Official Digital Download]

The quartet maintains their usual roles, with their usual flexibilities too; Jusell on violin, Prymek on guitars, Sage on keys and percussion, Shiroishi on saxophones. It’s not unusual for members to veer far from their allotted lanes though; Jusell may suddenly erupt on vibraphone, or Sage may curl through a song on warbling clarinet, Shiroishi’s serene voice is more angelic and more prominently featured than ever, and Prymek’s ambient Americana touches lend the album a shimmering and pastoral delicacy. Across the four sides, or time zones, of the album – Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern – the group continues their liquid explorations of melody and timbre. Though all four artists live in four states, and were, yes, living and recording in one of each of those time zones during the album’s making, the album feels more than ever “in the room.” Everything they’ve done before they continue to do here, but with more aplomb. This group has an enormous body of work already, but Meridians sees them ratchet up on their previously established qualities. The ballads the band has garnered a following for are in fine form here; songs like “Light in the Annex,” “Hamilton” or “Meridians,” feel tender and glacial, more adrift, more orchestral. The more upbeat songs fans have come to expect hiding in Fuubutsushi records are here too; “Distance Learner” or “Tenel Ka (First Crush)” both clip along joyously. The group dabbles with distortion and seering production here more than ever before – see “Spent for Light” – in ways that find them further evolving and unfurling. Meridians feels at once the band at their most seasoned and also their freshest. Whether writing deeply romantic love songs – “Nora Nora” – or thrilling naturalist sagas – “New Flora” – the group navigates tropes and musical terrain with grace, daring, and pleasure.

This album is entirely self-produced and released by the group in collaboration with Sage’s Cached.Media imprint in a deluxe 2xLP vinyl edition. The songs are available for sale digitally as well, but only through the Cached website. Fuubutsushi’s tendencies reflect a continued kind of farm-to-table, grassroots approach. Though they play sweetly, melodically, triumphantly, sorrowfully, Fuubutsushi have a strident Punk sensibility in their ethos. They aren’t simply a band, they are a brotherhood. These four artists are allegiant to this music and the fandom the group has garnered (much to the members’ surprise and cherishing); they have poured their imaginations, emotions, and resources into making Meridians a rarefied and self-contained statement.

Tracklist:
01. Blue Rose
02. Hamilton
03. Distance Learner
04. Tenel Ka (First Crush)
05. Prelude to New Flora
06. New Flora
07. Circulating Air
08. Light in the Annex
09. Midori
10. Nora Nora
11. Pool Tile Blue
12. Barrel Duet
13. Wonder Years
14. Spent for Light
15. Meridians


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