Photo Credit: Brandon McClain
Mei Semones, who makes “virtuosic, culture-hopping music” (The New York Times), releases “Tooth Fairy” ft. John Roseboro, the second single/video from her forthcoming EP, Kurage, out April 10th on Bayonet Records. Following lead single “Koneko” ft. Liana Flores, which “leans into the jazzy, bossa-nova-inflected side of her work, its high-pitched vocal melodies dancing alongside playful, virtuosic guitar work,” (Stereogum) “Tooth Fairy” is a mellow track, encapsulating Semones’ friendship with longtime collaborator John Roseboro and recorded at New York’s Figure 8 Recording. The song recounts the two running into each other in Greenpoint after Roseboro happened to lose a tooth on the subway re-told with a laid-back sense of humor that can only come from years of friendship. Alongside today’s single comes a video starring Roseboro and Semones, directed by Jacob Rodier.
“Tooth Fairy” is a technicolor bossa jazz affair built out by the full Mei Semones band—Noam Tanzer on bass, Ransom McCafferty on drums, Claudius Agrippa on violin, and Noah Leong on viola—a tight-knit crew of collaborators reaching the height of their powers.
Reflecting on the track, Semones says: “This song is about a day I was meeting John Roseboro at his friends’ bookstore. I got off the train in Greenpoint and we happened to have been on the same train, and we ran into each other on the platform. He smiled and told me his tooth had just fallen out, and held out his hand to show me. So I was inspired to write a song about that and our friendship. Thanks to John for being down to join me on the song and always being a good friend and inspiration to me 🙂 Musically, one of my favorite parts is the arpeggiated guitar chords, inspired by a Guinga tune I learned.”
