“Every kind of venue has its own perks. The crowd can be more attentive if they’re seated, like a concert, but the standing venues can have a certain energy to them. But I do love a theatre,” says Brooklyn-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist Mei Semones, whose official website characterizes her sound alternately as “Alternative Indie J-pop” and “jazz influenced indie pop.” As luck would have it, Semones’ upcoming tour kicks off May 29th right here at the Music Hall at World Café Live, a sort of amalgam of the three types of venue.
Earlier this month, Mei Semones played a headlining show at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, which the 24-year-old artist tells me during a recent phone chat was a major milestone of her career: “The show at Music Hall of Williamsburg was a big highlight. When I got here, I was trying to play Baby’s [All Right], then I was trying to open Music Hall of Williamsburg, and then to headline and sell out Music Hall of Williamsburg was huge.”
The live dates are in support of Mei Semones’ debut LP, Animaru, which was recorded in the summer of 2024 at Ashlawn Recording Company in Connecticut, amidst extensive touring, and dropped May 2nd on Bayonet Records (It already boasts several of my favorite tracks of 2025, one of which you can hear on the next edition of Philthy Radio, June 20th on Y-Not Radio.) Semones tells me the LP itself marked another turning point in her career: “Just making an album has been a big highlight. When I started out, I was way more interested in being a guitarist and being in the background and playing for other people.”
Animaru follows up three EPs: 2022’s Tsukino and Sukikirai, followed by 2024 Kabutomushi. And while Semones admits that certain aspects of Animaru have remained more or less the same as the EPs, there was one notable change: “I feel like the writing process was pretty similar, starting with guitar and chords first, and building it up with melody and lyrics, and then bringing it to my band… The recording process was the biggest difference. In the past, we were all in different spaces, so we were recording separately, in layers, but this is the first time where we were able to all record in the same space at the same time.”
“We’re gonna play the full album and then some older songs, as well, and then we’ll probably play some unreleased songs,” Mei Semones tells me of her live show, which will have her five-piece band accompanying her throughout the US for the first half of summer — with the LA, Toronto, and Boston dates already sold out — before heading to Asia for three shows beginning in late July, starting with Fuji Rock Festival, all of which Semones tells me she’s quite delighted about: “Summer’s not my favorite season, but I’m really excited for all the touring and I’m really excited for Fuji!”
*Get your tickets here.
