[Cover photo credit to TEKE::TEKE]
Montreal-based Japanese Psych-Rock band TEKE::TEKE have released “Gotoku Lemon,” the second single from their upcoming sophomore album, Hagata, out June 9th, 2023 via Kill Rock Stars. The song mixes the musical aesthetic of Chindon’ya’ (Japanese marching bands) with Bollywood-style grooves and 70s film score orchestration.
Translating to “Lemon Enlightenment” in English, the track sees lead vocalist Kuroki sharing a short story about a world in which glow-in-the-dark lemons are found to be the cure for all ills, with a twist. In the end, the song “serves as a warning to those who seek salvation in snake oil.”
The track is accompanied by an animated music video directed by Kuroki and the band’s guitarist Sei Nakauchi Pelletier.

As for the album, Kuroki explains:
‘Hagata’ is a very deep word, something present but also something leftover from someone or something no longer there. It’s like waking up from a dream, or being connected to the other side of something.
After building their sound on Shirushi through careful assembly of Japanese Folk, Psychedelia, Brazilian Surf Rock, and more, the seven-piece band engaged in “free-floating experimentation” both on the road and with Hagata’s producer Daniel Schlett (The War On Drugs, DIIV, CHAI, Nick Hakim), recording in Mountain Dale, New York. The album was mastered at Sterling Sound.
TEKE::TEKE Live Dates:
Mar 31 Burlington, VT @ Radio Bean (SOLD OUT)
April 8 Iowa City, IA @ Mission Creek Festival
June 24 Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Jazz Festival
Aug 11 Regina, SK @ Regina Folk Festival
Sept 2 Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest
Sept 3 Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Fest