Metropolis Slicker, and particularly “Loretta,” struck a chord with many new followers for its humorousness and earnest admiration for Japanese pop music and movie. After about six years of floating by way of completely different initiatives and writing modes, Lew had lastly locked into one thing that spoke to folks and was met with the suitable quantity of luck.
“My expectations with music as a profession have been all the time very low,” Lew claims. “I keep in mind seeing Japanese Breakfast open for Alex G on the Constellation Room in Orange County. And I believed, if I may simply stand the place she’s standing and be the place she’s at, I’d deem this complete factor I’m making an attempt to do an enormous success. And early on within the Rikki days, we have been in a position to try this. And so for me, I used to be identical to, ‘What do I do now?’ When ‘Loretta’ hit, I don’t suppose I used to be ever anticipating or essentially wanting that sense of virality. If my primary purpose is to pop off on YouTube, or pop off with a music, after which I get that, I don’t know what would have occurred after that. Perhaps that will have been it.”
Whereas Metropolis Slicker has, in virtually each means, been a significant boon for Ginger Root, its success has additionally inadvertently exacerbated Lew’s impostor syndrome.
“I simply really feel bizarre speaking about the truth that [Ginger Root] is like, well-liked now. Once I come again house, I simply really feel like I’m gloating,” says Lew. “I bought acknowledged at my native Goal in Orange County. You know the way bizarre that’s? I’m searching for Gold Bond lotion for my eczema, my dry ass palms, and this child comes up like, ‘I really like Loretta.’ And I’m like, ‘oh my god, that is so bizarre.’ I’m nonetheless very uncomfortable with it, however I recognize it.”
He continues. “I believe as a result of my expectations have been so low, when that occurred, I used to be like, ‘okay, effectively, I assume I’ll make one other EP.’ However as an artist, one thing that got here subconsciously — which is what Nisemono was all about — was ‘Is it okay that I had this second? How do I stay as much as this? Do I have to?’ After you have any sort of viral success like ‘Loretta,’ or in some other capability, what do you do subsequent? Do you money in on that? Or do you neglect about it and don’t play it anymore and make folks offended on goal? Or do you play the sport? With Nisemono, I used to be poking enjoyable at being like, ‘Yeah, I’ll play the sport a bit of bit. I’m going to attempt to lean into this a bit of bit extra, see how a lot I can get out of it.’”
For Lew, leaning into it a bit of extra meant a extra cohesive theme for Nisemono, which tied straight into the features of interchangeability within the music business and a really literal illustration of Lew’s overwhelming sense of “I’m not presupposed to be right here, am I?!” Pair this with songs that arguably skew even tougher in direction of conventional metropolis pop resembling “Loneliness” and it appears like Lew’s greatest reply to coping with the emotions of ‘undeserving’ or ‘unbelonging’ is throw your self deeper into them till you cease caring. A minimum of a bit of.
Within the video for “Loneliness,” Lew isn’t presupposed to be a performer. He’s the author: Kimiko Takeguchi (a fictional Japanese idol performed by Amaiwana) is meant to be singing this music. However when she quits on the final minute, Lew has to choose up the slack, identical to when folks bailed on him in his highschool music program. It’s uncomfortable sufficient to look at eyes manically dart round as he slowly begins to ease into performing idol hand gestures in entrance of a glowing ‘Kimiko’ backdrop. But it surely’s the studio crew gaslighting themselves into believing not that Lew is an appropriate stand-in for Kimiko, however that he is Kimiko, that basically places me on edge. Now he has to faux that he’s somebody he by no means mentioned he was, or he’ll be ‘letting down’ all these individuals who made assumptions.
He pushes the bit additional in additional light-hearted methods (we truly do get a version of “Loneliness” from the real fake Kimiko), however at its core, Nisemono is about some severe existential dread.
Shinbangumi, at the very least at first look, looks as if a much more optimistic file. Positive, Lew is unceremoniously fired from Juban TV simply seconds into the video for “No Problems” as a result of he doesn’t wish to make “Loretta 2.” However higher to be disposed of for who you might be than be accepted for who you aren’t? Perhaps? Each are their very own type of rejection, however within the former case, you’ll be able to at the very least strike out and reclaim a few of your company. The narrative continues from there to see Lew begin his personal rival firm after failing pathetically to attempt to do every part by himself, however he does get it off the bottom with some mates earlier than his outdated employer affords to rehire him.
“With Metropolis Slicker, one in all my aspirations for that venture was that I needed to make a film and an album on the identical time,” says Lew. “And I believe simply due to sources and time or means or expertise, I used to be by no means capable of pull that off. Nisemono was my second try at making an attempt to do some type of that. There’s no actual scenes happening, however there’s like a world and characters and an aesthetic. Once I had the superb alternative to work with Ghostly they usually have been like, ‘no matter you wish to do, we are going to attempt that will help you do it.’ I’ve the assist, I’ve the drive, and I’ve but to actually be happy with the entire thought of creating a story album in a means that I haven’t seen earlier than.”
Shinbangumi is definitely the closest Lew has come on that entrance. Every particular person plotline is probably not as soul-crushing because the impostor syndrome narrative, however Shinbangumi weaves themes of reclaiming all of your identification with the message that it’s okay to depend on others that will help you.
“We wrote the story of Shinbangumi in actual time as I used to be going by way of the concept of ‘what’s it going to be like once I work with a bigger label?’ What’s it going to be like once I can truly delegate duties to different folks? You begin fascinated by the enterprise aspect of being a musician,” Lew admits. “And I weirdly put that into the story of Shinbangumi: making a group and trusting them, and everybody has their very own factor. Teamwork versus doing all of it your self, and being tempted to return to different methods.”
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