Now i see the light - peaceful complexity

When to Listen: Any mellow morning
Accessibility: Very
TLDR: Mellow sounds for a complex world.

After almost 10 years since their last full album "Hear You," toe is back with a new album that borrows from both their original sound while exploring something new. For those who don't know, toe is a Japanese post/math rock band. However, classifying them as such is a bit of a disservice, as they often bring in elements of jazz, R&B, and pop music. Their music is often instrumental in nature and plays with complex time signatures and melodic tones.

This album follows in this tradition but with the addition of more complex lyrics, vocalizations, and a more mature sound that has eluded their previous albums. The album starts out with "風と記憶," which is an immediate embrace of the toe sound from "Hear You," with complex riffs and manic guitar lines all harmonizing into something that almost feels like jazz. Following up "風と記憶" is "LONELINESS WILL SHINE" – a moving acoustic piece that echoes back to "The Last Number." Then, with a smooth transition, we enter "TODO Y NADA" and "街のどこかで," which both have the classic hallmark toe guitar sound. They weave complex rhythms and tones that are beautifully complex yet peaceful and moving.

Coming out of the quiet and sparse "街のどこかで," we enter "WHO KNOWS," which is probably the most traditional song on the album. A simple song in 4/4, it shines in a way that would be lost in other albums, providing familiarity in a sea of otherwise complex songs, powered by soothing lyrics over a simple, direct baseline and complex guitar patterns (it's still toe).

Exiting "WHO KNOWS," we enter the back half of the album with "CLOSE TO YOU" – a song with an interesting melodic hook and a fat baseline that carries you. "キアロスクーロ" explodes with a complex drumming pattern and heavy snare usage, reminding us of the early days of toe. "サニーボーイ・ラプソディ" continues this with even more complex drum and song composition. Finally, the album rests on "MADNESS SUMMER" – a melodic break from the complexity with a chilling acoustic guitar line and ethereal soundscape. After the palate cleanser of "MADNESS SUMMER," we end on the titular track: "NOW I SEE THE LIGHT." This track starts off slow and builds into an opus of what the album was before it – a diverse masterpiece of contemplation, reflection, complexity, and peacefulness.

That is the true magic of toe. On paper, their music is complex and non-traditional, often employing alternative time signatures, poly-rhythms, and other more avant-garde approaches to music composition. Yet somehow, in this complexity, their music remains calm, balanced, and relaxing. Building off years of previous experience, they seem to transcend their former selves, delivering a diverse, mature, complex, and beautiful album that reminds us that complexity can be peaceful.