Once (Single Mix) / Formosa (Single Mix)

Iroiro's debut single feels wide open and full of possibility. Once starts as loping, chiming rock before twisting into an elegant blur of distortion. Formosa brings arena-rock swagger, shaped by noisy psychedelia and a wistful melodic touch. Beauty and chaos meet brilliantly here.

After only a few gigs, Iroiro were already being talked about as Seattle's most exciting rock group. That shift is striking if you know IQU, where Michiko Swiggs and Kento Oiwa built playful sample-led takes on trip-hop, drum and bass, and synth-pop.

Here, Swiggs and Oiwa move into extended instrumental jams that bloom into psychedelic rock. Once and Formosa were recorded in the '70s room at Avast! with Stuart Hallerman and mixed on vintage equipment, while side B was recorded with David Farrell at Arrival Seattle.

Following the end of Zazaz, Swiggs and Justin Schwartz invited Oiwa, also of Malaise, to join a new project. James Drage of SIL2K also joined, bringing what Swiggs called "amazing and otherworldly" effected bass.