Shing02 was one of the first lyricists who’ve I’ve taken the effort to comprehend at such a young age. His proses on the instrumentals of the late and venerable Nujabes compounded the musical quality with such grace and fluid projectivity.
The Luv Sic series was such a mesmerizing voyage that seamed the six narratives into a memorable lineage.
Nujabes and Shing02 seemed like water and air, effortlessly coinciding, transformative, independent, and conducive with one another. Although, after the passing of Nujabes, Shing02 did not halt his hustling endeavors. Just as before, the multilingual lyricist was open to working with underground producers that now had the opportunity to shed a fraction of their talent through the name of the late-Nujabes collaborator.
Over a decade later and through years of growth and experimentation, the endeavors are still the same and strong as stone. This time, Shing02 formally named Shingo Annen, collaborated with Japanese Dance/Electronic producer Sauce81.
Sauce81’s sound is a haven amongst the extraterrestrial. There isn’t a niche sound that his hand cultivated, but instead, he’ll use groovy chords to give respect the homage of 1990’s Dance music.
His technique is palpable enough to validify this collaboration as another auspicious feat for both of them.
The end result is a rambunctious and fun display of their extraterrestrial inspiration. S8102 holds onto two components creating the whole, unique, flavorful beats enveloped by on-point syllogisms, metaphors, and well-rounded literary content.
As whenever Shing02 delves into a full-lengthed effort, he doesn’t seem to carry a cohesive narrative through. Each of his songs has their own meaning, story, themes, and textures to them. This approach seems appropriate for a project such as this.
These two, as well as their supportive coterie, are on a journey through space. Space itself is conducted with random events, spontaneous arrays of cosmic bursts and awe-inspired collisions.
Starting the journey is the track entitled Mission Statement. In this track, Annen treads from one lyrical stoush to another, in a similar fashion Earl would conduct his poetry on Doris. The track is treated as an introductory premise of some of the topics expressed in this project. Annen both expresses his grievances against “selling the face” in the music industry, as well as conducting an exposure on the talent composed by the crew.
“The window is narrow but delivery is possible. Reverse engineer the future with the particles.”
Towards the next track, Moonlighter, the aural mood shifts from the hard-bopping pattern of the first track to a step-by-step dance rhythm. Supported by the lyrics is the celebration of creation.
Similar to his metaphorical approach to the Luv Sic series, Annen dissects his prose from line to line.
“Only the moonlight knows what we’re cooking tonight. The drama with such clarity will fade in the light. What we will remember our trips to the sub-con. We can recreate on the surface of the Avalon.”
One of my preferred tracks in this project is The Crux. Here, Annen lacerates Sauce81’s bouncy space theme without the break of breath or shortness of pace. The second half of the compulsion is Sauce81’s bustling production.
The music is a lot of fun to listen to and using Annen’s prolonged prose as an instrumental component to the instrumental’s animation, the end result one of the project’s most refined song. Another favorite from this collaboration is the track entitled Galactic Wrap.
The track does not include any dialogue from Annen. Instead, the main focus of the track relies solely on Sauce81’s signature dance rhythm. This is the second to last track, before the track Bring Me Home. At this point, the end of the project is approaching as the journey is coming to its final point.
Annen reflects on his lyrical capabilities, as well as his ruminations of the modern world, which includes thoughts on modern civilization and technology, as well as the resulting music industry. Regardless of any uncertain connotations, Annen may display here, he’s always on a positive stream.
As his other collaborators, Sauce81’s music may finally find some prestige outside his local scene, as deservedly as it should receive. Whatever future endeavors both of them may pursue in the future, hopefully, they hold the same spirit they held when on their voyage through the universe.
