{"title":"CHAI","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCHAI is a Japanese rock\/experimental pop band that originated from the punk music scene in Nagoya. Formed in 2012, they have since captivated audiences with their unique sound and energetic performances.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith their infectious blend of genres, CHAI has carved out a distinct niche for themselves in the music industry. Their songs are characterized by catchy melodies, clever lyrics, and a fearless approach to experimentation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKnown for their vibrant stage presence and colorful aesthetics, CHAI has gained a dedicated following both in Japan and internationally. Their music resonates with fans who appreciate their boundary-pushing style and unapologetic authenticity.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"wink","title":"WINK","description":"\u003cp\u003eLike all musicians, CHAI spent 2020 forced to rethink the fabric of their work and lives. But CHAI took this as an opportunity to shake up their process and bring their music somewhere thrillingly new. Having previously used their maximalist recordings to capture the exuberance of their live shows, with the audiences’ reactions in mind, CHAI instead focused on crafting the slightly-subtler and more introspective kinds of songs they enjoy listening to at home—where, for the first time, they recorded all of the music. Amidst the global shutdown, CHAI worked on Garageband and traded their song ideas—which they had more time than ever to consider—over Zoom and phone calls, turning their limitations into a strength.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTheir third full-length and first for Sub Pop, \u003ci\u003eWINK\u003c\/i\u003e contains CHAI’s mellowest and most minimal music, and also their most affecting and exciting songwriting by far. While the band leaned into a more personal sound, \u003ci\u003eWINK\u003c\/i\u003e is also the first CHAI album to feature contributions from outside producers (Mndsgn, YMCK) as well as a feature from the Chicago rapper-singer Ric Wilson. CHAI draw R\u0026amp;B and hip-hop into their mix (Mac Miller, the Internet, and Brockhampton were on their minds) of dance-punk and pop-rock, all while remaining undeniably CHAI. Whether in relation to this newfound sense of openness or their at-home ways of composing, the theme of \u003ci\u003eWINK\u003c\/i\u003e is to challenge yourself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"Tape","offer_id":50447829008715,"sku":"1112160","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50447825043787,"sku":"1112159","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50447829664075,"sku":"1112161","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/46a6cd15-b2fc-4b9a-88b3-2d9c38142c45_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727082841"},{"product_id":"chai","title":"CHAI","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Japanese band CHAI cast a spell on the world in 2017 with their debut album, \u003ci\u003ePink\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of songs that introduced their singular brand of playful pop. The enthusiastically feminist follow-up, \u003ci\u003ePunk\u003c\/i\u003e, raked in accolades from the music press and fellow artists. That led to \u003ci\u003eWink\u003c\/i\u003e, which CHAI made via remote Zoom sessions, a limitation that became a strength by allowing Mana (lead vocals and keys), Kana (guitar), Yuna (drums), and Yuuki (bassist-lyricist) to collaborate with artists abroad to create a work that found catharsis in their international community.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe band’s new self-titled album finds CHAI returning to their roots, drawing inspiration from their Japanese heritage and the music that raised them. “Everything reflected in the lyrics expresses our experience as Japanese women,” Mana says. CHAI’s ethos is one of inclusion, and lead single “We The Female!” – recorded live to honour the band’s riotous performances – beckons listeners into the mission. “We are human and were born as female, but we have both female and male aspects in each of our souls, each with our own sense of balance,” CHAI said in an accompanying statement. “We can’t just label ourselves into clear-cut, simple categories anymore! I’m not anyone else but just ‘me,’ and you are no one else but just ‘you.’ This song celebrates that with a roar!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn \u003ci\u003eCHAI\u003c\/i\u003e, the band draws directly from city pop, a Tokyo-born sound popularized in the ‘70s and ‘80s. City pop was a Japanese take on Western lounge music, borrowing from jazz, boogie, funk, and yacht rock to create a sound that straddled two cultures. While city pop has recently found a US audience via TikTok and YouTube, CHAI grew up on the genre. For production, they tapped previous collaborator Ryu Takahashi, who shared their love of city pop, eurobeat, and the melodies of J-pop artists like Maria Takeuchi. “They wanted to dig into their Japanese identity, not in a traditional sense, but in this filtered Western way,” Takahashi says. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"Tape","offer_id":50447914107211,"sku":"2028385","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50447913681227,"sku":"2028384","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50447914860875,"sku":"2028386","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/CHAI_CHAI_1500px_f9c41140_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727084040"},{"product_id":"punk","title":"Punk","description":"\u003cp\u003eJapanese four-piece CHAI may worship at the altar of kawaii - their homeland’s culture of cute – but they’re not about to be pushed around by the idle bosses and the ignorant patriarchy. The ultra-concise garage-pop race of their debut LP \u003ci\u003ePINK\u003c\/i\u003e is about to be overhauled on their new album. It's all neon colours, E numbers and all things hyperactive. CHAI are ready to light the fuse; CHAI are PUNK. For fans of Basement Jaxx, CSS, and Tom Tom Club.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - 140 Gram White Vinyl with Download. First Pressing Only.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Heavenly Recordings","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50457262260555,"sku":"1055785","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50457264554315,"sku":"1055784","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/d7d1ebf6-aa01-4f48-8663-3cc7f86f3ba2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727204233"},{"product_id":"pink-1","title":"Pink","description":"\u003cp\u003eJapanese culture has long since developed a fascination with the cute, the innocent, the throwaway; it’s termed ‘kawaii’, more of a cult than a concept, and it runs through the veins of incoming hyper-animated four-piece Chai.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHailing from Japan’s Nagoya region, the band formed around identical twins Mana and Kana, before close friends Yuna and Yuuki completed the line up. Imagine a world dominated by bright colours and squeaky clean plastic, where endless cartoons and guilt-free meal times combine to offer hymns to empowerment, and a rejection of the mundane. Imagine Chai’s electrifying, hallucinatory, but wonderfully real debut mini-album \u003ci\u003ePink\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eHi Hi Baby\u003c\/i\u003e opens with relentless percussion, a bunch of kids let loose in a drum store, before blurring into hi-speed, chirruping vocals. It sounds like a garage punk band fed into a malfunctioning Gameboy, replete with space age effects and more cowbell than you can handle; it’s the Ramones let loose in the year 3000AD and re-born as four teenage Japanese girls. \u003ci\u003eChai\u003c\/i\u003e favour fake over real, plastic over organic, the internet over everything – but there’s meaning to their ecstasy.\u003ci\u003e N.E.O.\u003c\/i\u003e rejects the ‘body beautiful’ myth, exploding beauty norms and accepting freakish abnormality, where the only thing unacceptable is the mundane. “Isn’t being ‘boring’ weird?” they cry, bound by rhythms so tight they’re almost like a techno record, using vocal spasms and ejaculations instead of choruses. At a gigantic four minutes long \u003ci\u003eBoyz Seco Men\u003c\/i\u003e is the lengthiest track on the record, simply affording Chai more opportunity for their minimalist approach to burrow into your sub-conscious. It’s a mixture of childish burbles and Japanese slang, underlining the unsatisfactory confusion of modern dating: “If he’s stingy, unfair, or cheap...” they shriek: “Don’t go for it!” Chai demand the best from every situation, a kind of spoilt toddler infatuation given the cutest – there’s that word again – sheen. \u003ci\u003eHorechatta\u003c\/i\u003e places rumbling basslines against ear-piercing vocals, gently intoning a tale of absolute infatuation with... gyoza dumplings. ‘Fried’ proves that self-care is the best care. Chai demand the nourishment of cooking, comparing love to oil, and screeching “fried = soul”. It’s a heavy duty disco workout, but it’s also a rejection of waste, eating every last crumb on their plate in an absorption life’s every facet. The four-piece describe themselves as having “gained a little weight” but “It’s my pride! \/ ...Want to love that version of me?” Plugged in to pop culture on a 24\/7 basis, Chai practically have modems for stomachs and phone lines for veins. \u003ci\u003ePink\u003c\/i\u003e closer \u003ci\u003eShe Is Kitty\u003c\/i\u003e reflects the Hello Kitty cult while adopting the best guitar riff Nile Rodgers forgot to write; Chic glamour and a so-simple-it’s genius chant, this is child-like innocence meets information overload, with a chorus so sweet it’ll rot your molars within seconds. Just the first glitter-strewn belch to eminate from Chai, \u003ci\u003ePink\u003c\/i\u003e is the kind of guilt-free hyper-pop overdose you’ve waited your entire life to hear. It’s cute, but beneath the surface there’s a whole new world to explore.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Limited Pink Vinyl in a PVC Bag.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Heavenly Recordings","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50466841493835,"sku":"1044340","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2e0134a0-8374-4a3c-a304-8424fda49bbb_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727324627"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_a6b5155b_thumbnail_4096_976799ad-88e0-4275-b43e-8e2f76254781.jpg?v=1727082793","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/chai.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}