Earlier this month, Mei Semones released her debut album, Animaru.

Semones is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. Not only is she a singer, but also a highly proficient guitar player. She even stated in a previous interview: "I can’t live without my guitar. I feel like it's an extension of myself, and I’m not sure what I would do without it."

Semones has been releasing music since 2020, but has been into writing and playing since long before then. She has three previously released EPs: Tsukino (2022), Sukikirai (2022), and Kabutomushi (2024).

Her laidback vocal delivery and complex musical arrangements make for a really striking combo that you don't typically hear in pop music. Semones blends her love of the jazz greats and her knack for writing a hook into something that is both approachable for new listeners, and unpredictable for people who might be looking for something a little more "out-there."

Mei talked to me about her new album Animaru, John Coltrane, how she writes a song, and her love of Japanese literature.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Wade @ The Needle Drop: Where does the title of the album come from?

Mei Semones: "Animaru" is the name of one of the songs on the album, as I'm sure you noticed. It's the Japanese word for "animal." For me, a theme that is sort of across the whole album, is being able to trust your instincts, following what's important to you, prioritizing yourself. It's kind of a theme throughout the whole album, so I thought it would be a fitting title. I also just thought it has a nice ring to it as well!

The single "I can do what I want" fully encapsulates that idea in the song title alone. I can see how you came to that conclusion. I was curious, talking to you now, hearing you sing on the album, you have a laidback way about you. Meanwhile, the arrangements you put together are so complex and constantly keeping listeners on their toes. Is that juxtaposition something you do intentionally?

That's an interesting question! It's not something I've really thought about too much. It's not intentional having my vocal delivery be the way it is and the instrumentation being more complex. I think it's just the way I sing, y'know? I've never had vocal training, and what you're hearing is me trying to sing. I think I've definitely gotten better over the years, but it's just how it comes out of me. In terms of vocalists that inspire me, I really love Gilberto and Chet Baker. That's probably why my voice comes out soft and laidback, because a lot of the singers I grew up listening to had those kinds of voices. Some singers will go crazy-over-the-top and do all these crazy runs and stuff, with heavy vibrato. I don't know how to explain it... kind of like a performative vibe, I guess? Whereas for me, I like hearing people sing straightforward, and it sounds like they're singing the way they would speak.

The Chet Baker influence totally checks out. I really appreciate that earnest vocal delivery myself. Now, I love the jazzy stuff on the record, and we'll get to that, but staying on the topic of laidback-ness or quietness, some of my favorite moments on the album are the tension building moments of silence. There's a few tracks where there will be a build-up and then a pause. Immediately I'm like "where's Mei going next?" Then the track goes right back into full speed. How did you come up with using that motif across the record?

That's a great question, too. I feel like, not intentionally, to be honest. But I'm sure that there's lots of things that repeat through the album just because I wrote all the songs, and I've got sort of a specific writing style I've developed over the years. So there's probably naturally just going to be things that reoccur throughout my work. Like you were saying, those moments of silence and tension building is something that is just part of the way I put a song together. If I were to really sit down and look at every song I've ever written I'm sure I'd be able to point out things that sort of represent my style. It's just sort of a quirk in my songwriting, I guess.

When it comes to writing the actual instrumentation and arrangements, do you do that yourself? Or is it more of a collaborative effort?

It's more collaborative for sure, like I just write the core of the song; guitar, vocals, melody, all that. Then when it comes to string arrangements, drums and bass, it's much more of a collaborative deal. It's the same members, and it has been for a few years now.

Are they close friends? Or have they maybe become close through making music? How'd you get to know them?

We basically all met at Berklee College of Music, which is where we all went to school. Some of them I've known since 2018, when I was a freshman. We started playing together as a group in like, 2021. Luckily, basically everyone moved to New York after graduating, and we've been able to continue working together.

I love when things work out like that.

Yeah it was very convenient.

You've talked vocalists, but I'm curious about your other musical influences. As we've already briefly discussed, your arrangements are very dense and complex. Do you have any artists that maybe inspired the way you arrange music, or maybe any artists who directly inspired the album?

My favorite musician of all time is John Coltrane. He's somebody I listen to pretty much every single day. Obviously, my music doesn't sound anything like John Coltrane, but I've definitely taken some sort of inspiration from his musicality. I don't know... I listen to a lot of jazz. Some of my other favorites would be Jim Hall, or Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery.

The greats!

Yeah! Basically all the people that everyone loves. I also really love Brazilian music, like bossa nova, artists like Gilberto and Jobim. Those are the first ones that come to mind. When I was younger I was really into Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins, so I like to think that some of my rock influences come from those groups.

Just out of curiosity, what's your favorite Coltrane record?

I've been listening a lot to this one called Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album. I don't think it ever officially came out when he was actively releasing music, but it's on Spotify and I love the recordings on that one.

The Coltrane I've been into lately is Meditations.

So good.

How long have you been playing guitar?

I've been playing for about 13 years. I started when I was 11-ish.

Were you self taught?

I've pretty much always taken lessons ever since I started. My parents got me set up with lessons, and I'm very lucky to have had them. Even in high school and college too, I've always had lessons.

Would you say your guitar playing takes more from your rock influences or your jazz influences?

It ended up being more jazz for sure. I started playing rock in middle school, and then as I got older I was pretty much just focused on playing jazz.

Were you in any bands when you were younger?

Actually I was very lucky because my high school had a really great jazz program. Most high schools have big band programs, but mine had small combo stuff, so like quartets, quintets, and stuff like that. That's kind of where I got into it. I had the opportunity to play with a ton of people and learn how to work with others. I was also in some other non-jazz bands, too. There was one band I was in that was sort of like a neo-soul kinda vibe. So that was fun.

I'm so curious about the album cover. Obviously there is a song on the record called "Rat with Wings"; why did you decide to make that the cover of the record? What does it mean to you?

The song "Rat with Wings" is about when someone turns out to be not as nice as you thought they were. So that's why they're kind of like a rat – which is really rude... so sorry to them. But you've got the image that they're like these beautiful angels with these beautiful wings, and then you find out they're actually just a rat. That's one of the more visual concepts on the album. Like, when I hear the song I just picture a rat with wings in my head, so it made sense to make it the cover.

You've released a few music videos for tracks off this album. Were you thinking about what the videos were going to look like in advance, or was that kind of like a "later thing"?

It's more a "figure it out when we get there" thing. It's very much just focusing on the music, and then once I'm done I listen and think about what would make sense with it. For the "Dumb Feeling" music video it was just a day-in-the-life in New York kinda thing, which makes sense to me because the song is about the love I have for New York. It's also about the love I have for my friends, and making music. I just wanted the visual to match how I feel and what the song means to me.

Do you remember what the first song you finished was?

I think it was "Dumb Feeling" actually.

That checks out! Especially given what you just told me about what that song means to you.

Yeah, that one came together pretty quickly.

Did you find it daunting to write your debut album? Did you ever go back and listen to your old stuff to see if there were any ideas you wanted to revisit? Or were you just singularly focusing on making something wholly new?

I don't necessarily look back on my old songs – like I'm not purposely avoiding revisiting old ideas, because I don't really think there's anything wrong with that. I definitely don't want to make something super similar to a previous song. But there are songs on this album that are actually inspired by other songs I've written. For example, "Rat with Wings" – the way that song starts actually was directly inspired by the song before it on the album "Norwegian Shag". There's like this thing that I put in the outro of the song, this descending line, and I was just playing and repeating that, and then that repeated bit became "Rat with Wings". I kind of like that, when a part of a song, a fragment of a song, sort of becomes a whole new song, if that makes sense.

You sing in both English and Japanese across your discography. Are you fluent in Japanese?

Mhm!

How do you decide if a song should be in one language versus the other?

It just depends on what naturally comes out when I'm coming up with lyrics. If I'm writing something in Japanese and I can't think of a way to make it fit in the music, then I'm not going to force it. It works the other way, too.

Do you have any Japanese musicians you're into?

I really like Ichiko Aoba, if you're familiar with her, she's amazing! I've also really been into the band Regal Lily, they're great. Also Tricot, they're a math rock band. I definitely should listen to more Japanese music... I haven't really listened to enough of it.

You've been doing some shows lately, and you've got a lot more coming up with the tour! How do you feel about touring? Do you get nervous, or is it something you get excited for?

I love touring! Playing live music is easily my favorite part about being a musician. It can get really tiring with all the traveling, and sleeping in a different bed every night, not getting much alone time; you're always on the move. But, playing every night and hearing people enjoy the music, I'm reminded that all the other stuff is completely worth it. I love playing music, and I love playing with my friends, my band! So if I can make a living doing that, then I'm really happy.

Do you have any influences outside of music that inspire your songwriting? Books? Movies? Video games?

I don't really watch a lot of movies, and I don't play video games. Books a little bit for sure. I haven't been reading as much as I used to. When I was younger I read so much. One of my favorite authors is Murakami Haruki, he's a Japanese author. I really love his writing. When I'm reading his books I sometimes feel like my lyrics will have similar themes to his writing, like if I'm writing and reading his stuff at the same time.

Are there any of his books that stand out to you as like... "the one"? You know how people ask the "if you could bring one thing to a deserted island" question? Which of his books would you bring?

That's hard... I feel like I'd have to re-read all of them to really decide, you know what I mean? I really love A Wild Sheep Chase, love that one. He's also got really amazing short stories that are super easy to read. He also had one called Pinball, 1973. It's like two short stories turned into one. It's hard to pick just one of his books.

Same question but for albums.

Definitely the one I mentioned earlier, Both Directions at Once by Coltrane... or maybe even Coltrane Plays the Blues. I don't know... there are just so many good albums that exist! Bill Evans and Jim Hall, their duo albums. The Getz/Gilberto album, too. There's also Monk Plays Duke Ellington, that one is really cool.

If you could say one thing to every person about to hear the album for the first time, what would you say?

I hope you like it!

Animaru is out now. You can purchase it here.
You can catch Mei Semones on tour. See all the dates here.