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CMU Approved
Approved: New Optimism
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 2 July 2018
Having given fans a fifteen year wait for their third album – 2014’s superb ‘Hotel Valentine’ – Cibo Matto then dashed all hopes of a quicker follow-up by splitting (again) at the end of last year. There was, at least, the promise that they would both return to solo projects. Hence the duo’s Miho Hatori recently announced new outfit, New Optimism.
Following standalone track ‘After Hours Of Dr My-Ho’ in May, she announced the first EP from New Optimism last week. The six tracker, titled ‘Amazon To LeFrak’, is set for release through Phantom Limb – the label launched last year by former FatCat A&R James Vella – on 27 Jul.
The first single from it, ‘Jet Setters’, sees Hatori push the fiercely experimental and joyously pop sides of her songwriting against each other with full force. The song comes joyfully close to completely falling apart before suddenly snapping triumphantly into sharp focus. Best of all, the sense of punch-drunk euphoria this elicits can be found all the way through the EP.
Listen to ‘Jet Setters’ here…
