Tashaki Miyaki
The Dream
Reviewed by: Lauren Rosier
Throughout the history of music, the city of Los Angeles has produced some of the greatest bands and solo artists in the industry. One of the latest buzzworthy bands is the indie pop duo, Tashaki Miyaki.
The duo’s highly anticipated debut album, The Dream, is out today on Metropolis Records. It’s a hypnotic collection of solid, hazy indie pop. Since Tashaki Miyaki’s inception in 2011, they’ve kept things under wraps and in the early days they even performed under aliases to keep things secretive. Additionally, even aspects like how the band’s moniker came to be is unclear, but perhaps that’s part of the fun. By keeping the band members’ identities hidden, it can be argued that it places more emphasize on what’s important: the music.
The 13-song collection showcases some truly incredible musical poetry. The track, “City,” portrays a female subject feeling disconnected from the world as she sings “look at the world/it is big/I am small/and we are living.” She goes on to sing about “I walk along every day/of the streets/of the city/and I’m all alone.” The track blends together elements of different genres from indie rock, folk, to psychedelic-type rock.
The duo’s first single, “Girls On TV,” was written about fame, culture and observing how people quickly become obsessed with being in the spotlight. It’s not even specifically surrounding your typical traditional celebrity, but also those individuals brought into fame via social media or reality TV shows. “I don’t want anything/just the world to love me/I don’t believe in anything/won’t you please adore me” they sing on the track dedicated to fame, celebrity lifestyle, and the ideal that the it’s all about popularity with social media “likes,” “views,” etc.
On the track “Out Of My Head,” the duo touches upon wanting to shut off your mind and escaping from all the racing thoughts that can be a result of mental illness such as depression and anxiety.
On “Anyone But You,” the duo sings about love and relationships where they sing “livin’ is easy/if you don’t know what to miss/I had it easy/before our first kiss/now I don’t know what to do/’cause I don’t want anyone but you.”
With The Dream, Tashaki Miyaki creates a brilliant debut filled with themes about fame culture, love, and much more. They effortlessly transition from one song to the next. The record is a exquisite set of musical poetry that sets a precedent for all musicians. From feeling alone in a large city to wanting the world’s attention, The Dream is a beautiful collection of musical poetry for a debut album.
Rating: Bad-Ass
