{"id":84240,"date":"2023-12-28T22:39:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T22:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/?p=84240"},"modified":"2023-12-28T22:40:04","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T22:40:04","slug":"cd-review-ando2-take-the-long-way-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/2023\/12\/cd-review-ando2-take-the-long-way-home\/","title":{"rendered":"CD Review: andO2 \u2013 Take the long way home."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Formed in Hakodate, Hokkaido in 2010, andO2\u2019s relative isolation from Japan\u2019s cultural centre of Tokyo has helped them shape a unique sound all their very own. Incorporating elements of emo, post-rock and indie, the band have been a slow burner, releasing music sporadically and sparingly, preferring to keep their fans on tenterhooks as they await new products. Therefore, there\u2019s a sense of anticipation surrounding their first mini-album <em>Take the long way home<\/em>, it has a certain rarity value, like the Yeti or Loch Ness Monster, an andO2 release is a rare sighting, but all the more precious for it.<\/p>\n<p>After emo\u2019s mainstream success in the 2000\u2019s, an inevitable backlash occurred and the scene became something wholly uncool and associated with depression and self-harm. However, time moves on and with hindsight, the second-wave of emo produced some undeniably good music and it is precisely this aesthetic that andO2 tap. Opening with a vulnerable voice singing against a backdrop of brittle guitars which shine like icicles glistening in the winter sun makes for a tender, brittle introduction and means that when the rest of the band kicks in, it is with some force. It\u2019s a brief and rather stark introduction that gives little indication of the approaching storm. That tempest arrives in the shape of the dense <em>Titan<\/em>, a song that punctuates its (impenetrable) wall of sonics with huge white spaces, each acting as a foil to highlight and contrast the other, and the result is a song which ululates between the lithe and heavy, light and shade, and the result pulls us in two directions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"andO2 \u300c\u6b69\u304f\u3088\u3046\u306a\u901f\u3055\u3066\u3099 \u300d Official Music Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eQT9L_UMNzA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>It would be interesting to know if andO2 took the title of this mini album from the Supertramp song of the same name, because the title track, <em>Take the long way home<\/em> shares a similar whimsical nature, a sense of yearning for a specific time and place. As with its namesake, this song skips along to its own rhythm and wraps the vocals up in a tightly woven ball made from taut guitar lines. With each of the five songs inhabiting a unique space, this release is the perfect calling card with each track showcasing a different facet of the band\u2019s repertoire. <em>GreatHunting!!!<\/em>\u00a0reminds me very much of the Taiwanese math rock band Elephant Gym; it is full of nifty time changes and unorthodox chord progressions, and spins the listener around until they are quite dizzy. Markedly different each song might be, but this mini-album flows exceptionally well, so much so that the silence which follows the final song <em>zai-zen<\/em>\u00a0becomes a gaping chasm. Such is the emotional nature of this record that we form a strong attachment with these songs, and when it stops it feels as if something precious has been taken away.<br \/>\n<em><br \/>\nAs I alluded to earlier, Take the long way home.<\/em> has been a long while in gestation and as a critic I have to ask if that wait was worth it. The answer is a resounding \u201cyes\u201d!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-84693 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/andO2_Takethelongwayhome_jacket.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/andO2_Takethelongwayhome_jacket.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/andO2_Takethelongwayhome_jacket-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/andO2_Takethelongwayhome_jacket-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/andO2_Takethelongwayhome_jacket-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/andO2_Takethelongwayhome_jacket-75x75.jpg 75w, https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/andO2_Takethelongwayhome_jacket-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/andO2_Takethelongwayhome_jacket-750x750.jpg 750w, https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/andO2_Takethelongwayhome_jacket-1140x1140.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>Tracklisting:<\/h3>\n<p>1. \u5618\u3064\u304d\u592a\u967d (Liar of the sun)<br \/>\n2. Titan<br \/>\n3. \u6b69\u304f\u3088\u3046\u306a\u901f\u3055\u3067 (Take the long way home)<br \/>\n4. GreatHunting!!!<br \/>\n5. zai-zen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The album can be purchased through the label of the band, <a href=\"https:\/\/divergentrecord.studio.site\/ando2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Divergent Records<\/a>, on Bandcamp and the major streaming services, only the single can be found. And you can also watch the music video for this track, as linked above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Formed in Hakodate, Hokkaido in 2010, andO2\u2019s relative isolation from Japan\u2019s cultural centre of Tokyo has helped them shape a unique sound all their very own. Incorporating elements of emo, post-rock and indie, the band have been a slow burner, releasing music sporadically and sparingly, preferring to keep their fans on tenterhooks as they await [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":84690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"2","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"no-crop","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-715"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3073],"tags":[5965,8482,6226,5786,5927,6191],"class_list":["post-84240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-reviews","tag-alternative-rock","tag-ando2","tag-emo","tag-indie-rock","tag-japanese-pop","tag-post-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84240"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84302,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84240\/revisions\/84302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}