London-based collective Superorganism made waves last year with their wonky self-titled debut album. Featuring members from Japan, England, New Zealand and Australia, Superorganism play a pastiche of pop music’s past, present and future. There’s never a dull moment on their record thanks to outlandish synths, bonkers samples and shapeshifting vocals. Paste featured their album on our list of the 20 Best Debut Albums of 2018.
Back in December 2017, seven of them sat cross-legged on the floor of the Paste Studio with apples in hand to perform cuts from their first LP. They opened their set with “Something For Your M.I.N.D.,” and Orono Noguchi introduces it by simply stating in hilarious deadpan, “This is the first song we ever wrote as a band and it’s pretty sick.” They also perform a stripped-down version of “Nobody Cares,” and their shared vocals made for the perfect pop singalong.
In Paste’s review of their album, Ben Salmon wrote, “Superorganism’s self-titled debut album has the feel of a surreal, futuristic collage. Galloping electronic beats sit alongside honeyed vocal harmonies, bird chirps flutter around a bloodless bass line, synths shimmer and whoosh and burp, spoken-word samples show up out of nowhere. At the center of this frolicsome soundworld is Orono’s consistently compelling voice, often deadpanned, sometimes slack-rapped and regularly pitch-shifted on the fly.”
Listen to Superorganism’s full Paste Studio session below.