Back in May, we introduced Columbia Deluxe, the new album from ambient-jazz outfit Fuubutsushi, forthcoming via American Dreams. “Taken from a show at the Columbia Experimental Music Festival, the project’s only live performance to date, the collection finds the quartet working to adapt tracks recorded remotely for the live setting,” we described, “drawing from the breadth of their work and allowing intuition, risk-taking and collaborative spirit to flourish in close proximity.” Lead track ‘Loop Trail’ offered a glimpse into how Chris Jusell (Rosalía, Lizzo, Silk Sonic), Chaz Prymek (Lake Mary), Matthew Sage (Shabason, Krgovich, Sage) and Patrick Shiroishi (The Armed, Wild Up) draw upon their diverse backgrounds and influences to create the Fuubutsushi sound. A song “indebted to both the patience of ambient aesthetics and old-school punk ethos,” as we continued, “drawing the audience into a soundscape at once poignant and meditative.”
With the release of Columbia Deluxe fast approaching, Fuubutsushi are back with ‘Light In The Annex’, a song with something of an unorthodox origin story for the outfit. “This was a really fun and rare opportunity for us to play a song live before releasing a recording of said song,” the band explain. “We were just starting to put together ideas for some of the songs that would become [2024 full-length] Meridians and ‘Light in the Annex’ was an early contender.” Not that the live version lines up with what would eventually be recorded, with the nature of the live performance and moreover the spirit of Fuubutsushi project meaning that nothing is ever static or set in stone. “This version feels a little more wily compared to the studio/album version,” as they continue. “We find some pockets to push moments of disorder or tension/release pretty far, which was certainly part of the experience for everyone… anticipation and tension and wonder and relief and joy all mixed up together.”
