The Silence

The Silence are a 21st century neo-psychedelic band led by guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:0JxR7HzydWMu2Fg66ndphj">Masaki Batoh</a>, founder of the iconic Japanese band <a href="spotify:artist:59IZPHfed17Kn89v6knzSJ">Ghost</a>. After disbanding the long-standing group in 2014, he formed the Silence straightaway. Influenced by everyone from Love and <a href="spotify:artist:4PI5IHRvANLL76O5gRmGKL">Blue Cheer</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:7DCnwoFMqGN6eZULdcLZeL">Quicksilver Messenger Service</a> and Can, the band's sound is a dizzying array of psych, progressive folk, mutant pop, and hooky melodies. The group issued their self-titled debut and Hark the Silence nine months apart in 2015, and the following year issued Nine Suns, One Morning. After touring and a personnel change, the Silence released Metaphysical Feedback in 2019 and Electric Meditations the following year.

While in Spain touring his Brain Pulse Music album in the fall of 2013, <a href="spotify:artist:0JxR7HzydWMu2Fg66ndphj">Batoh</a> ran into drummer Okano Futoshi, who had played with <a href="spotify:artist:59IZPHfed17Kn89v6knzSJ">Ghost</a> for Lama Rabi Rabi and its long American tour in 1996. After speaking for more than an hour, the two artists resolved to collaborate at some point in the future. In 2014, <a href="spotify:artist:0JxR7HzydWMu2Fg66ndphj">Batoh</a> disbanded <a href="spotify:artist:59IZPHfed17Kn89v6knzSJ">Ghost</a> after a seven-year hiatus. In the fall, he announced the creation of the Silence, a new band with Futoshi. He enlisted the aid of another former <a href="spotify:artist:59IZPHfed17Kn89v6knzSJ">Ghost</a> bandmate, Kazuo Ogino, as keyboardist, producer, and arranger. Ogino also recruited bassist Jan Stigter and saxophonist/flutist Ryuichi Yoshida. The band's self-titled debut album was released in March 2015 by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Drag+City%22">Drag City</a>. The Silence was quickly followed with Hark the Silence in November, an album that showcased the heavier, more jam-oriented aspect of their persona. After sporadic touring, the Silence went right back into the studio. 2016's Nine Suns, One Morning melded the more open and spacious sound signature the band explored on their debut album with the more strident psychedelia found on Hark the Silence.

In August 2019, the Silence showcased another aspect of their woozy sound on their fourth full-length, Metaphysical Feedback. While the elements of acid folk and psych-rock remained at the core of their music, a more progressive and formally constructed sound emerged on the album. Shifting time signatures, denser textures, and the prevalent reeds and woodwinds of Ryuichi Yoshida marked a compelling expansion of the band's sonic approach. In addition to new material, the group became a quartet: Ogino left and appeared as a guest. Founding bassist Stigter also went off to pursue solo projects; he was replaced by Taiga Yamazaki. The quartet format allowed <a href="spotify:artist:0JxR7HzydWMu2Fg66ndphj">Batoh</a> to pursue a more streamlined approach to psychedelia.

For 2020's Electric Meditations, the Silence recorded in analog at GOK Studios in Tokyo. The set yielded everything from sprawling acid-drenched garage rockers to free-form experiments in improvisation. Alongside their originals, the Silence delivered a squalling, sax-drenched cover of the <a href="spotify:artist:2bmixwMZXlkl2sbIbOfviq">Bo Diddley</a> blues classic "I'm a Man." ~ Thom Jurek