Sen Morimoto revealed that a new full-length project, Time Is On Your Side, was coming, after announcing it last month. The opening single “Overthinker” came across as a serene, reflective piece, and the artist now returns with “Chewing Gum,” another subtly breathtaking track.
“This tune centers on the idea of bending time,” explains the Chicago-based musician. “It feels like a dialogue between older and newer versions of myself, and the arrangement literally manipulates time in the sense that each instrument operates in its own time signature, or in its own interpretation of that signature. The conflicting meters drift apart and then reconnect again, like old friends catching up. Kaina [Castillo] kindly contributed her voice to the chorus, and we always crack up when laying down vocals together because our tones are so similar that we can’t always tell who’s who.”
“I had shelved a concept for the ‘Chewing Gum’ visual that fell through, but Kaina rescued the moment with footage of a wild Massachusetts sunset,” they add. “My brother Yuya rang from Japan with an idea to animate a chewing gum piece singing the song. I had little experience with stop-motion and the clock was ticking, so it sounded impossible, yet the image wouldn’t leave my head that night. The next morning I bought a bunch of Silly Putty and a hefty supply of Big League Chew and taught myself the basics of animation. The quirky mix of the wonky animation with live-action footage reminds me of very early YouTube videos, or a kind of warped 90s Nickelodeon aesthetic.”
Watch below.
Time Is On Your Side is set to drop on 10/23 on Morimoto’s own Sooper Records.
