Kishi Bashi Kantos Purple Vinyl Editoin

The latest full-length from Kishi Bashi, Kantos is a work of exquisite duality: aparty album about the possible end of humanity as we know it, at turns deeplyunsettling and sublimely joyful. In a sonic departure from the symphonic folkof his critically lauded 2019 LP Omoiyari_a career-defining body of work bornfrom his intensive meditation on the mass incarceration of Japanese-Americansduring World War II_the Seattle-born singer/songwriter/producer's fifthstudio album encompasses everything from Brazilian jazz and '70s funk toorchestral rock and city pop (a Japanese genre that peaked in the mid-'80s).Informed by an equally kaleidoscopic mix of inspirations_the cult-classic sci-finovel series Hyperion Cantos, the writings of 18th century enlightenmentphilosopher Immanuel Kant, a revelatory trip to ancient ruins on the island ofCrete_Kantos ultimately serves as an unbridled exaltation of the human spiritand all its wild complexities.During the earliest stages of creating songs for the album, Ishibashi's mainintent was to return to his highly eclectic musical roots, in part by tapping intohis jazz background and by delving into the dance-rock-leaning sensibilities hepreviously embraced as co-founder of Brooklyn-bred indie band Jupiter One.But not too long into the songwriting process, he stumbled upon anAI-equipped website capable of composing catchy song hooks based on aprompt_a turn of events that quickly catalyzed the existential inquiry at theheart of Kantos.Although his ruminations on AI, transhumanism, and humanity's troubled fateindelibly guided the making of Kantos, Ishibashi nonetheless views the albumas "less of a warning about this kind of hubris but more a celebration of thevery characteristics that make us human: desire, passion, empathy, and love.""If there's anything I want people to come away with when they hear thisrecord, it's a feeling of excitement about the possibilities of human-createdart," he says. "Even as we're learning more about al...