CMU Approved

Approved: Jo Passed

By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 25 April 2018

After his last band Sprïng collapsed, Jo Hirabayashi launched Jo Passed as a solo project. Over a number of years, and through a handful of EP releases, the project has formed into the band now found on debut album, ‘Their Prime’.

The title of the record has a slightly ironic glint to it, as much of the subject matter of the record deals with Hirabayashi’s fears that he’s missed his moment.

“It’s me owning my worst nightmare”, he says. “A lot of the Jo Passed project has been about confronting fears. I was afraid to move away from Vancouver to Montreal on my own. Afraid to leave musical relationships I had. Afraid to bare the full responsibility of a project. I’ve been putting out records and not ones anyone’s necessarily heard. Being open about those fears is a good way of dealing with them”.

He goes on: “You end up at this point where you hit 30 and you’re like, ‘Oh what happened? Am I done? Did I not activate my main creative energy?’ It’s a ridiculous idea but 30 feels a little like 1000 in rock n roll terms”.

The irony then twists back on itself, because the album finds Hirabayashi and his band on a creative high. His dreamy vocals float above guitar parts, which at times sound like he’s trying his hardest to break the instrument, only to hear back a succession of wonderfully weird melodies.

With previous singles ‘MDM’ and ‘Millennial Trash Blues’ already winning over fans, new track ‘Glass’ and it’s captivatingly odd video show no signs of slowing Jo Passed’s surge.

Watch the video for ‘Glass’ here:

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