Video: Hakushi Hasegawa Shares 'Departed'; Brainfeeder Debut LP 'Mahōgakkō' Out in July

Japanese musician Hakushi Hasegawa/長谷川白紙 (they/them) has shares a third single and video, “Departed,” from their new album Mahōgakkō/魔法学校, their first full-length album for LA-based Brainfeeder, out July 24th. Previous singles include “Boy’s Texture,” released earlier this month, and last year’s “Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi).” The new single comes with a video directed by Gauspel (Brandon Saunders).

"Departed" opens the world of Hakushi's Mahōgakkō with unabandoned whimsy; immediately immersing listeners in a cacophonous yet prismatic array of unrelenting drums, skittering synths and glitched out vocal samples. The track gives a further look into the "Exploratory Ratio", a self-coined term that describes Hasegawa's long-standing approach of balancing pop and pandemonium in their songwriting. The latter is pushed to such extremes and becomes an integral texture in Hasegawa's wild sonic landscapes.

“This song is the most chaotic, least obvious, and most conflicted piece on the new album or in my work to date,” explains Hakushi. “I hope that this song will continue to hang in the air, exactly like the video that Gauspel created for me – for it to be a celebration of unclarity and giving up. I am pleased to be able to open the album with this song.”

Mahōgakkō, translating to “Magic School,” finds Hasegawa pushing their boundaries to the absolute limit, with hyperspeed jungle and breakcore traded up for the even more pummeling onslaughts inspired by Tanzanian singeli so that they become just another texture in the wild sonic landscapes. And just when your senses are bordering on overloaded, Hasegawa gifts you a moment of sweet reprieve before the roller coaster sets off again with hectic syncopations and harmonic jumps not for the faint of heart.

“The balance is probably the only thing in my work that is intentional and very important to me,” shares Hasegawa. “In many of my songs, I use a scale that I personally call the ‘Explanatory Ratio’ to guide my work. This is not a sophisticated musical theory at all, but simply a subjective scale that looks at the balance of sounds that are explainable to me and sounds that are not explainable to me, and whether or not they are distributed in the ratio that I set for each piece.”

Their invented theory results in Mahōgakkō’s noisy experimentations with its influences, which include jungle, J-pop, and singeli to conjure its frenetic sound. Impressively, the eye of this sonic maelstrom revolves solely around Hasegawa, who taps only a few select collaborators to enliven their vision. Those who caught lead single “Mouth Flash” will recall bassist Sam Wilkes added depth to the track juxtaposed against Hasegawa’s high-pitched singing. The lone featured vocalist rapper KID FRESINO lends his voice to “Gone,” where FRESINO’s determined flow seems to ground the skittering drums from spiraling out of control. NYC-based jazz composer Miho Hazama likewise lends her own form of control to “KYŌFUNOHOSHI,” guiding horns and saxes brought in by Yohchi Masago, Ryo Konishi, and Tomoaki Baba (J-Squad).

The past year proved a year of exciting firsts for Hakushi Hasegawa. Brainfeeder announced their signing in July 2023 and shared a single – “Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi)” – featuring bass by the super-talented Sam Wilkes (Leaving Records). A few days later, Hasegawa blew fans away, making their debut at the iconic music festival Fuji Rock in Japan. In September, they created the soundtrack for both the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter Noir Kei Ninomiya 2024 runway shows for Comme des Garçons at Paris Fashion Week, and in November, they were the focus of a cover-to-cover takeover at Yuriika [Eureka] for that month’s issue of the historical Japanese literary magazine specializing in poetry and criticism. To top the amazing year off, Hasegawa shared a warmly received cover of Paul McCartney’s eternal holiday anthem, “Wonderful Christmastime.” 

About Hakushi Hasegawa

Consistent with Brainfeeder’s ethos of seeking out artists operating outside the confines of genre since the label started in 2008, Hakushi’s music is tricky to categorize as it straddles a few genres: alternative, electronic, jazz, pop/J-pop. Sometimes it’s pretty, at times it’s very intense and fast-paced. Releasing music since 2018, they’ve already made a name for themselves domestically in Japan with a string of wonderfully wild releases and started to build a cult following internationally. Collabs to date have included Kid Fresino, yuigot, TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA, Yukichikasaku/men, and Eye from Boredoms.

Hakushi Hasegawa / Mahōgakkō/魔法学校 (Brainfeeder)

Tracklisting

01. Departed

02. Gone

03. Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi)

04. Repeal (Tekkai)

05. The Blossom and the Thunder

06. KYŌFUNOHOSHI

07. NENNEKOKOROMI

08. Forbidden Thing (Kimmotsu)

09. Mahōinter (v2)

10. Boy’s Texture

11. Enbami

12. Outside (Soto)

Photo credit: Naoki Takehisa - @takehisanaoki

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