Brainfeeder has shared the announcement of their newest signing from Japan, Hakushi Hasegawa. Alongside the big news, Hakushi has shared their new single and video, “Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi),” with bass from Sam Wilkes. The new single is the first in a series of releases between the artist and Flying Lotus’s label, which celebrates 15 years releasing genre-defying music in 2023.
Hakushi Hasegawa (They/Them pronouns) is a musician/singer-songwriter based in Japan and the first Japanese artist signed to the Brainfeeder label. Releasing music since 2018, they made a name for themselves domestically and now have started to build a following internationally.
Hakushi performed at the online festival “Secret Sky” in May 2020 hosted by Porter Robinson. Collabs to date have included Kid Fresino, yuigot, TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA, Yukichikasaku/men, and Eye from Boredoms. This weekend they will make their debut at the music festival Fuji Rock in Japan.
Hakushi explains the meaning behind new track “Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi)”:
What I feel I should do from now on is to disturb the music with my own body, and to expose the chaos, although it is not coherent. I believe that this song is the very beginning of that process. (The body is always subject to the forces of history and categorization, but always seems to be situated between individual narratives, songs, and dances at the same time.) It is a real honor to be able to release the song on such an important label as Brainfeeder, which has been presenting the chaos of music throughout its activities since 2008.
“Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi)” comes with an official music video directed by Tsuribu Tokyo who describes the inspiration for the visual accompaniment thus:
Based on the energy of the music and its unique rhythm, which sounds like the Japanese festival (Matsuri) music, the video is directed and produced under the theme of “New Matsuri”, which combines all cultures and elements. The video includes fragmentary situations and scenes that were picked up by Hakushi Hasegawa themselves; powerful dance performance by Yoon Ji – the upcoming dancer based in Korea; adorable, quirky characters and animation by Sawako Kageyama; and live-action video by Rintaro Unno that sharply captures the reality of the world. It also combines a variety of images, including graphic design using fireworks as a motif, and depicts an unknown festival and excitement by blending seemingly divergent elements of reality and unreality together.
