FLOURESCENT ASOBI SEKSU

FOLLOWERS of New York quartet Asobi Seksu will know their fourth album is already drawing favourable attention.
But for those not yet familiar with the group’s latest offering – Fluourescence (out this week) – a visit to Relentless Garage, Highbury Corner, on April 17, may shed some light on what all the fuss is about.



Asobi Seksu melt from dream pop to shoegaze to soaring heavy-effect instrumentals, which have historically attracted comparisons with My Bloody Valentine.
Singer and keyboardist Yuki Chikudate is an accomplished frontwoman, playing the solid lead role around which her three male counterparts congregate, while remaining solitary and disparate onstage.

The scattered stage arrangement provides a strong visualisation of Asobi Seksu’s newer stripped down sound, while the remaining heavier riffs defy gravity as they lay thick in the air.
As guitarist/singer James Hanna said: “This time, our agenda was to not have one at all, to be mellow about the entire process instead of obsessing over everything.”

They may have made a conscious decision to keep things sparse but their resolve has proven patchy at best, allowing the power chords for which they are most popular to remain, even more pronounced against a newfound crystalline audio backdrop.