There’s a restless, shape-shifting quality to Sky Fish Fly, the latest release from kazaizen, that feels entirely in step with a world in flux. The Saint Paul-based project of multi-instrumentalist Jonny Kasai returns not with a statement of intent, but with something far more fluid: a 13-track, 35-minute drift through psychedelic rock, alternative soul, and experimental pop that refuses to sit still long enough to be pinned down.
From the opening moments, the record leans into its own unpredictability. “Nanoo Nanoo” and “Make It Love” spiral with a dizzying sense of motion, grooves folding in on themselves while melodies bloom and dissolve. It’s a heady introduction, like being dropped into a kaleidoscope mid-spin, where each turn reveals another layer of texture—horn-like synths, echo-drenched guitars, and fragments of vocal warmth.
There’s a particular fascination with nostalgia here, though it’s refracted through warped lenses. “What Is” feels unearthed from a dusty VHS archive of 70s soul, only to be reassembled into something dreamlike and disjointed. Similarly, “What’s the Meaning – Self” leans into city-pop aesthetics, but bends them into something stranger, looser, and more surreal.
Elsewhere, Kasai stretches into more expansive sonic territory. “State of Mind” builds a shoegaze-adjacent wall of sound from unlikely materials—samples, keys, layered vocals—while “Somewhere Somethings Waiting” dances between progressive synth-jazz and cosmic funk. Even the playful absurdity of “Mr. Musk” slots seamlessly into the record’s broader vision, its narrative whimsy undercut by a genuinely inventive arrangement.
Ultimately, Sky Fish Fly thrives on its refusal to resolve. It’s lo-fi yet immersive, fragmented yet cohesive, a project that treats music as both atmosphere and inquiry. In pushing beyond genre boundaries, kazaizen doesn’t just blur lines—it erases them entirely, leaving behind something intriguingly untethered.
“With Sky Fish Fly, kazaizen invites listeners on a journey through sound that’s playful, introspective, and utterly fearless,” says music publicist Danielle Holian, Decent Music PR. “Jonny Kasai blends psychedelic soul, shoegaze, jazz, and city pop into a universe where every track feels alive, like flipping through a cosmic radio dial at midnight. It’s music that’s lo-fi, immersive, and impossible to categorise, but impossible to forget.”