If the star-speckled 2 Tone (2017) was listeners’ introduction to the many avenues of sound open to Shuta Hasunuma and U-zhaan, Good News offers focus, a much more level and immersive release. Hasunuma’s enigmatic compositions veer between fidgety electronics and luscious ambience, though, whether isolated in space or tumbled along by a beat, are always gorgeous and engulfing. U-zhaan’s tabla, meanwhile, is rapid and unbound, serving as the record’s most obvious source of technical astonishment and yet also the root of its groove and levity. Together the two have never been so cohesive and intoxicating. Good News isn’t just superior to 2 Tone (which was already heralded as one of the last decade’s finest experimental pop releases) but is one of the year’s most singular and mesmerising works.
Listen to “Go Around” below.
Author: Ed Cunningham
Artist Tags: Shuta Hasunuma, U-zhaan