Mei Semones Announces Debut Album Animaru
The LP will arrive May 2 via Bayonet. Listen to "Dumb Feeling" below.
Photo by Alec Hirata
Today, 24-year-old, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and guitarist Mei Semones has announced her debut album, Animaru. The project will arrive May 2 via Bayonet Records, who signed Semones last year and put out her EP Kabutomushi. Currently, she is on tour with Hippo Campus but will embark on a North American and European tour of her own. The news of Animaru comes with the release of “Dumb Feeling,” a bossa-samba melody plugged into indie-rock architecture. Where Kabutomushi was one of the most confident label debuts of 2024, “Dumb Feeling” is the dawn of an even greater era for Semones. Animaru is, according to her, a product of “no second-guessing, no overthinking. The way I want to live my life is by doing the things that are important to me, and I think everyone should live that way.”
In her Best of What’s Next profile of Semones last year, Grace Ann Nantanawan wrote that Kabutomushi is “a lush, sweeping arrangement of guitar, strings and percussion that seamlessly imbues elements of jazz, bossa nova, j-pop and math rock into a cohesive and unexpected mosaic of sound. The lavish and whimsical instrumentals glide across the tracklist in a balmy haze under her feathery vocals, and Mei Semones’ daring, experimental songwriting and fusion of melodic oddities and jazz improvisation have solidified the framework of her climbing rise in this business—and you’d be foolish to not pay close attention to it.”
Listen to “Dumb Feeling,” check out the Animaru artwork and tracklist, and Mei Semones’ upcoming tour dates below.
Animaru Artwork:
Animaru Tracklist:
Dumb Feeling
Dangomushi
Tora Moyo
I can do what I want
Animaru
Donguri
Norwegian Shag
Rat with Wings
Zarigani
Sasayaku Sakebu
Mei Semones’ Upcoming Tour Dates:
Wed. Feb. 5 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Stone Pony #
Sat. Feb. 8 – Albany, NY @ Empire Live #
Sun. Feb. 9 – Toronto, ON @ History #
Tue. Feb. 11 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore #
Wed. Feb. 12 – Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater #
Fri. Feb. 14 – St Louis, MO @ The Factory #
Sat. Feb. 15 – La Vista, NE @ The Astro Theater #
Sun. Feb. 16 – Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom #
Tue. Feb. 18 – San Diego, CA @ The Sound #
Thu. Feb. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern #
Fri. Feb. 21 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory #
Sat. Feb. 22, 2025 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater #
Mon. Feb. 24, 2025 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union #
Tue. Mar. 25 – Dublin, IR @ Button Factory ~
Wed. Mar. 26 – Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s ~
Thu. Mar. 27 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club ~
Fri. Mar. 28 – Manchester, UK @ Academy 2 ~
Sat. Mar. 29 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom ~
Thu. Apr. 3 – Amsterdam, NL @ Tolhuistuin ~
Fri. Apr. 4 – Antwerp, BL @ Trix ~
Sat. Apr. 5 – Paris, FR @ Petit Bain ~
Wed. May 7 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Thu. May 29 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
Fri. May 30 – Washington, DC @ The Atlantis
Sat. May 31 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room
Mon. June 2 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5
Tue. June 3 – Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
Wed. June 4 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
Fri. June 6 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Sat. June 7 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Sun. June 8 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Mon. June 9 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry
Wed. June 11 – Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch
Thu. June 12 – Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall
Fri. June 13 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB
Sat. June 14 – Boston, MA @ Red Room Cafe 939
# supporting Hippo Campus
~ supporting Panchiko