Japanese instrumental rock band Mono will return to Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 19, at the Lodge Room for the first time in two years after the inevitable COVID hiatus.
Mono is known as the Asian band with the most overseas performances. The North American tour, which this show is a part of, is also the first world tour to take place for their 11th album, “Pilgrimage of the Soul,” released by the American label Temporary Residence Ltd. on Sept. 17, 2021.
Tickets for the show are on sale now. The show’s opening act will be Bing & Ruth.
The Tokyo-based four-piece instrumental rock band was originally formed in 1999. Their unique approach of combining moving orchestral arrangements and shoegaze guitar noise is held in extremely high regard; so much so that the band’s musicianship and diverse musical palette has eclipsed the rock genre and exists within its own realm. As British musical magazine NME once stated, “This is music for the gods.”
Over the first decade, MONO rapidly established acclaimed status, especially with their live performances. Through their annual world tour consisting of around 150 shows, now visiting over 59 countries, both critics and fans of rock music agree their sheer euphoric, dynamic resonance of performance make them one of the best live bands in existence.
A particularly monumental early live memory was a special set of orchestral shows celebrating their 10th anniversary in New York, Tokyo, London and Melbourne; which was later immortalised in the live album “Holy Ground.” Mono also proudly holds the title of being one of the most internationally successful bands in Japan.
Outside of the studio and live music, Mono has made its name as a film score composer. After releasing 10 successful albums, including the live album with an orchestra, the band received the highly regarded Marshall Hawkins Award for Best Musical Score-Featurette from the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema for their collaborative short film “Where We Begin” in 2015. The band was also nominated for the Ariel Award for Best Original Music Score for the feature film “The 4th Company,” which was released in 2016.
In 2018, MONO began a new journey. After welcoming a new drummer, Dahm, the band started to prepare for their second decade’s celebration. During this time, they received a special invitation to be one of the headliners of London’s Meltdown Festival, personally requested by the 2018 curator, Robert Smith of The Cure; an unforgettable gesture and honor for the band from one of their long-time inspirations. The stage was then shared with artists such as My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, Mogwai and Deftones.
The band’s 20th anniversary was welcomed the following year. To commemorate this occasion, the 10th album, “Nowhere Now Here,” was released alongside a year-long world tour, consisting of four special orchestral shows in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and London, ending in March 2020.
One of those events, held at the historic Barbican Hall in London, was performed to a rapt sold-out audience of 2,000 and was immortalized as a live album, “Beyond the Past,” as part of this celebration. It charted at #2 on Billboard’s Classical Crossover Albums in the U.S.
As the first creation of Mono’s third this decade, a new album,“Pilgrimage of the Soul,” was scheduled for September 2021 release. It was recorded and mixed — cautiously, anxiously, yet optimistically during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020 with one of the band’s longtime partners, Steve Albini.
“Pilgrimage of the Soul” is the 11th studio album in the 22-year career of the Japanese experimental rock legends. It is aptly named as it not only represents the peaks and valleys Mono has experienced as they enter their third decade, but also charts their long, steady journey to this time and place.
Continuing the subtle but profound creative progression in the MONO canon that began with “Nowhere Now Here” (2019), “Pilgrimage of the Soul” is the most dynamic MONO album to date (and that’s saying a lot). But where Mono’s foundation was built on the well-established interplay of whisper quiet and devastatingly loud, “Pilgrimage of the Soul” crafts its magic with mesmerizing new electronic instrumentation and textures, and, perhaps most notably, faster tempos that are clearly influenced by disco and techno.
It all galvanizes as the most unexpected MONO album to date — replete with surprises and as awash in splendor as anything this band has ever done.
Mono began in Japan at the end of the 20th century as a young band equally inspired by the pioneers of moody experimental rock (My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai) and iconic classical composers (Beethoven, Morricone) who came before them. They have evolved into one of the most inspiring and influential experimental rock bands in their own right. It is only fitting that their evolution has come at the glacial, methodical pace that their patient music demands. Mono is a band who puts serious value in nuance, and offers significant rewards for the wait.
Full schedule and tickets: www.monoofjapan.com/tour.php
Official websites:
Latest music videos:
“Riptide”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jfvrvbbBkw
“Innocence”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRi1gjWk0fc
“Nowhere, Now Here”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOxNd5ia_GY