HEAR YOU

A spectacular Japanese math band, Toe here have shifted away from their sort of standard and at times post leaning math to a minimalistic and poppy take on the genre that reaps many unexpected rewards. The complex riffs are light, and feed a collection of tracks that are catchy, relaxing, and often pretty. They pull off some great instrumental cuts, and have chosen only the best guest artists to sing on various others, avoiding the all too common pitfall of featured spots in modern music that create out of place and disastrous results. "G.O.O.D. L.U.C.K." is the best of the tracks with guests, not just having a great vocal set but with the great Japanese percussionist U-zhaan providing traditional drums as part of a killer instrumental backing for the aforementioned vocals. Also on the top flight for this record are the first three tracks, which string together into a beautiful opening sequence. An altogether excellent album that looks set to bring their greatness to a fairly wider audience, there's something here for crossover fans as well as math fans.