Artist: Atsuko Chiba
Title: s/t
Format: LP, CD, Digital
Label: Mothland
Distribution: The Orchard
Genre: Experimental Rock
Release Date: 24/04/2026
Each sprawling sonic essay is a world of its own, yet Atsuko Chiba remains iridescently cohesive, putting on display an a-priori array of polychromatic sounds…
Atsuko Chiba come full-circle with the release of their self-titled fourth long-player, positively rethinking their sound while unearthing six idiosyncratic gems that resonate deeply with their experimental ethos. Each sprawling sonic essay is a world of its own, yet Atsuko Chiba (April 24th, 2026 via Mothland) remains iridescently cohesive, putting on display an a-priori array of polychromatic sounds. Drawing inspiration from visionary artists such as Mark Lanegan, Beak>, Talk Talk, Can, or Portishead, the five-piece offer 32 minutes of ethereal exploration.
Though the Montréal outfit have been introducing more and more singing with every release, their namesake sees Atsuko Chiba further wield vocals as a means to delve into their intrinsic meta. And with this introspection comes a lyrical universe that coexists effortlessly with wildly evocative soundscapes. Atsuko Chiba is all at once a gritty post-rock epic and an intimate hymn to self-discovery, made possible by creativity, but even more so by collective self-reflection; its moodiness amplifying a communal desire to strain away from recurrent patterns for the sake of comfort, approval, and longevity.
The band comments: “Overall, Atsuko Chiba is an exercise in patience and restraint. The mood of the album is melancholic, at times feeling optimistic, while other times feeling almost hopeless—there’s a sense of loss and disconnect, but also a glimmer of hope. It is the most vulnerable and stripped down music we have ever made. It is a departure from the aggressive and distorted guitar sound we’ve relied on over the years. We also chose to make it a self-titled record which is something we battled with. We went with Atsuko Chiba because its overarching themes relate to us in a deep way. The material on this album presents itself as a mosaic of our interests and experiences as a band. We let the music guide us every step of the way, never forcing our will upon it, instead paying attention to what it was telling us and what we could do to further support it.
At first, we would come into the studio without a plan, just playing and recording the entire time, with no pressure as to a specific outcome: free jams during which we were just generating grooves, parts, and moments that felt good to us. We also put limitations, cutting out certain instruments from session to session, opening us to new options and pathways, generating new sound palettes. A lot of attention was put into creating space and holding back from always going for big epic moments. We focussed on keeping things simple and using dynamics to create exciting moments instead of relying on loud guitars to get us there. This album features a lot of auxiliary percussion, synthesizers, and keyboards, and places a strong emphasis on vocals. We explored acoustic guitars and created many custom percussive sounds by layering two or three sources together, also programming rhythms using samplers and drum machines.”
From the onset, Atsuko Chiba decided to treat this new opus with a freeform creative process, which could only be achieved by pursuing a hands-on approach, and by each band member—Anthony Piazza(drums, electronic drums, percussion), David Palumbo (bass, bass VI, vocals), Eric Schafhauser (guitar, synthesizers), Karim Lakhdar (vocals, guitar, synthesizers), and Kevin McDonald (synthesizers, guitar)—sharing the roles of engineer and producer. The collective later turned to longtime collaborators Matthew Cerantola for the mix, Harris Newman for the mastering, as well as Hannes Pasqualini at Papernoise Design for the artworks.
Tracklist
1. Retention
2. Pretense
3. Future Ways
4. Tar Sands
5. Torn
6. Locked and Array
Links
Official: https://thistlesifter.com
Bandcamp: https://atsukochiba.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/atsukochiba
Facebook: https://facebook.com/atsukochibamusic
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@atsukochibamusic
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/atsuko-chiba/1093234161
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5sztlFD2VHbf7vg13bt5eb?si=6lJWB94EQ2mmw416IxUt0A
Label: https://mothland.com
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