Album of Interest - October 2017
The New Monday, Shigeto (Ghostly International)
Electronic styles of music have become increasingly popular over the last decade. This increase in popularity has put a certain amount of pressure on artists to sound flashy in order to stand out and sell music. Zach (Shigeto) Saginaw seems impervious to this pressure: his newest album, The New Monday, is rife with masterfully understated electronic sounds and rhythms. This album is a blend of jazz, hip-hop, and dance styles. It feels as if Shigeto intentionally recedes into the fabric of the sound in order to balance his own style with his guest artists’. Marcus Elliot plays a warm and soulful tenor sax on the first, fourth, and last track of the album, which serves as a nice tonic to Shigeto’s cool electronic beats. ZelooperZ adds a flavorful focus to two tracks with his unique, uninhibited style of rapping. Elements of dance beats are ubiquitous throughout The New Monday; however, they are especially pronounced on “Ice Breaker”, “Wit Da Cup”, and “Don’t Trip” (featuring Mark Guiliana on drums). Detroit is frequently referenced throughout the album, and several of its featured artists hail from the Motor City. Shigeto does not appropriate a Detroit sound on this record, but graciously celebrates the relaxed soulfulness of the city’s music with his own pensively restrained musicality. The New Monday has a fun, low-key sound that does not aim to astound but rather to hold the listener in casual splendor.
