Tempalay -- Kakumei Zen'ya（革命前夜）

 

A few hours ago, I put up an article regarding 1970s underground scene singer Kimiko "Kiiko" Shiba（芝紀美子）and gleefully noting that she was another new discovery for me. Well, the same can go for a group in the 2010s.

It's interesting how J-Wiki and Wikipedia can categorize the same band. In the article regarding the band Tempalay in Wikipedia, it's been called "...a Japanese lo-fi psychedelic pop band..." with only two genres listed for it: indies rock and psychedelic rock. Meanwhile, for its J-Wiki article, it's been described as a mere rock band but there is far longer list of genres given for them there: indies rock, indies pop, psychedelic rock, dream pop, art rock, noise pop, experimental rock, bedroom pop (!) and lo-fi...allow me to catch my breath here.😵

Guitarist/vocalist Ryoto Ohara（小原綾斗）and bassist Yuuya Takeuchi（竹内祐也）were drinking buddies who had created a previous band before Tempalay was formed in 2014. Drummer Natsuki Fujimoto（藤本夏樹）would later join in. In June 2017, Tempalay released their first digital single, "Kakumei Zen'ya" (Night Before the Revolution) and with all of those genres whirling around the band, I have been left wondering what two or three genres can apply to this oddly soothing song. Is it dream pop, psychedelic rock or art rock? Is there some other new genre that could apply here? There's quite a bit of stuff happening in its four minutes and change, but underneath all of the echoing, soft chord banging and Ohara's haunting yet reassuring vocals, I can even pick up some old kayo kyoku whether that was his intention or not when he created "Kakumei Zen'ya". 

Up to this point, Tempalay has released three EPs from their earliest days between 2014 and 2017, five tangible and digital singles and six albums (one of which is a mini-album). Takeuchi left the band in June 2018 after which synthesizer artist AAAMYYY joined up officially a month later although she had already been with the band in its early days as a support musician.