Kikagaku Moyo are to release one final album before going on indefinite hiatus. Kumoyo Island is due on May 6 via their own imprint Guruguru Brain – watch the video for lead track Cardboard Pile below.
Like many others, the Tokyo-based five-piece's touring plans for 2020 were halted due to the pandemic, and they ended up spending lockdown in Amsterdam. But for their fifth record, they returned home and headed back to Tsubame Studios in Asakusabashi, where their earliest material had been recorded.
The 11 new tracks they created are intended to sum up their 10-year career; they include one song in their native tongue (Yayoi Iyayoi) and another inspired by Japanese folk music (Monaka) as well as a cover of Meu Mar originally by Brazilian singer-songwriter Erasmos Carlos – his Portuguese lyrics translated into English and then to Japanese.
In January 2022, Kikagaku Moyo announced that their upcoming European and North American shows would be their last, saying in a statement: "We have come to the conclusion that because we have truly achieved our core mission as a band, we would love to end this project on the highest note possible."
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Kumoyo Island tracklist
A1. Monaka
A2. Dancing Blue
A3. Effe
A4. Meu Mar
B1. Cardboard Pile
B2. Gomugomu
B3. Daydream Soda
B4. Field of Tiger Lillies
B5. Yayoi Iyayoi
B6. Nap Song
B7. Maison Silk Road
Kikagaku Moyo 2022 tour dates
North America
May 11: Toronto Lee’s Palace, Canada
May 12: Montreal La Tulipe, Canada
May 13: Winooski Waking Windows, USA
May 14: Boston Royale, USA
May 16: Brooklyn Elsewhere, USA
May 17: Brooklyn Elsewhere, USA
May 18: Philadelphia Union Transfer, USA
May 19: Asheville Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, USA
May 20: Atlanta Variety Playhouse, USA
May 21: Nashville The Basement East, USA
May 23: Madison Majestic Theatre, USA
May 24: Chicago Thalia Hall, USA
May 25: Detroit El Club, USA
May 27: Napa Bottle Rock Festival, USA
May 28: San Francisco August Hall, USA
Europe
Jun 04: Angers Levitation, France
Jun 06: Paris Trabendo, France
Jun 09: Oslo Loaded Festival, Norway
Jun 11: Beekse Bergen Best Kept Secret, Netherlands
Jun 12: Tourcoing Le Grand Mix, France
Jun 13: Brussels Botanique Orangerie, Belgium
Jun 14: Cologne Gebaude 9, Germany
Jun 15: Copenhagen Punpehuset, Denmark
Jun 16: Berlin Festsaal Kreuzberg, Germany
Jun 17: Prague Futurum, Czech Republic
Jun 18: Vienna Flex, Austria
Jun 20: Lausanne Les Docks, Switzerland
Jun 21: Zurich Mascotte, Switzerland
Jun 22: Amsterdam Paradiso, Netherlands
Jun 26: London Clapham Grand, UK
Jun 27: London EartH, UK
Asia
July 29: Naeba Fuji Rock Festival, Japan
North America
Sep 14: Boulder Fox Theatre, USA
Sep 15: Denver Ogden Theatre, USA
Sep 16 Dallas Texas Theatre, USA
Sep 17: Austin Far Out Lounge, USA
Sep 20: Phoenix Crescent Ballroom, USA
Sep 21: Solana Beach Belly Up, USA
Sep 22: Los Angeles Belasco Theatre, USA
Sep 23: Santa Ana Observatory, USA
Sep 28: Portland Crystal Ballroom, USA
Sep 29: Seattle Moore Theatre, USA
Sep 30: Vancouver Rickshaw Theatre, USA
Oct 06: Brooklyn Brooklyn Steel, USA
