TAMTAM - We Are The Sun!

Confronting the chaos of modern life and powered by love and compassion, We Are The Sun! is TAMTAM’s 4th full album featuring a retooled member lineup and provides desperately needed hope and comfort to help us get through these dark times.

While TAMTAM’s previous album Modern Luv was released in 2018, so much has changed in these two years. On the band front, they enjoyed a tour of Canada, lead singer Kuro released her own solo album, and long time keyboardist Tomomin left while bassist Haruna Ishigaki joined full time. As for the world, let’s just say in the span of two short years it rapidly became a lot more fractured, uncertain and scary than it used to be.

Whether it’s a coincidence or accurate reading of the deteriorating situation, this release of We Are The Sun! could not have come at a better time. This is not a pop record nor an exploration of intimacy and relationships which was Modern Luv, We Are the Sun! finds the band looking outward, trying to cope with the difficulties in life.  

Starting with Worksong!, TAMTAM acknowledge the soul crushing pressure of typical modern working life, the routine of eat/work/sleep and feeling physically and emotionally drained every day. So straight off the bat, you know TAMTAM is for real, life is no party and we all don’t flex in fast cars and lounge in Instagrammable seaside locales. As normal people, we have to sing songs to get by and bless ourselves as best we can.

This theme continues throughout the album . “There is so much trouble in the world” sings Kuro on “Aroma (Joy of Life)”. But while “life is hard mode,” we can’t get swallowed up by negativity, we can’t throw away hope. Meanwhile on “Dahlia”, life is a relentless up and down, but “no matter how we suffer, I hope it won’t last forever.” Like many of us today it feels like TAMTAM may also have lost faith in institutions and systems - sadly, “praying might not have any meaning, but that’s all we can do.” While none of this is overtly political, TAMTAM show and express a greater awareness of what’s going on than probably 99% of other Japanese artists (at least openly in their music), which deserves respect. Graciously, TAMTAM don’t point fingers or pit “us against them”, it’s just us really - “I’m gonna pray for you, it’s the same as praying for me.” That’s not to say this album is necessarily religious either - it seems to come from compassion and kindness than some kind of faith.

At the same time, the music feels more mature, there seems to be a drift from pop/urban sounds to more afrobeat and acid jazz, perhaps to reflect the subject matter (or is it the other way around). There’s definitely more of a spiritual vibe, or at least it is more prominent than it used to be. Especially the rhythms and guitars on tracks like “Sun Child” and “Beautiful Bad Dream,” and the use of more exotic percussion in general, We Are The Sun! feels more organic than Modern Luv which had more slicker/fancy production. One is not better than the other, but both were right for their times.

That’s not to say the whole album is heavy, there are fun (as fun as perhaps TAMTAM can be) tracks like “Flamingos” and “Lovers” with its smooth hypnotic bass line which I swear is just a flip away from being a dance classic. And the album does at least end on a feel good note with the dub vibes of “Summer Ghost.” Sequenced this way it feels like the light at the end of a tunnel or the sun after rain, which is most appropriate (and welcome) for the tone of the record.

In times like these we are desperate for answers, we feel powerless to effect necessary changes and injustice seems everywhere. But there are bright spots out there, this album being one of them, and if we can hold onto hope and look after each other, maybe we can pull through -  directly on “Tattoo” Kuro suggests “if you need a hero, just look in a mirror. No one’s gonna save yourself so you better save yourself”. In that way, it’s not going to be a higher power, a national leader or visionary philanthropist that will save us, perhaps we, the poor, the minority, the oppressed, we are the sun that will shine through the darkness. Hope, after all, is a good thing.