Tashaki Miyaki – Castaway: Track by Track
LA babes Tashaki Miyaki are releasing their second full-length Castaway on July 2nd. Lead songwriter, and producer of the album Paige Stark did us the honor of writing a track-by-track guide to the gorgeous album. The California three-piece is a sparkling example of the more glimmering lights, nighttime vibe of the modern LA sound. Tashaki Miyaki’s three members are obviously products of their California upbringings, but their flavor spans the U.S., citing Sun Records, Doo-Whoop, Neil Young, punk and hip-hop as influences. Their crackling, understated shoegaze sound and Stark’s hazy, floral vocals are complimented by contemplative, emotive lyrics, lush string accompaniments, and appearances by Jon Brion and Benmont Tench. Tashaki Miyaki’s Castaway is fuzzy bliss, effortlessly cool, star-flecked, understated dream pop excellence.
1. Castaway– This song came to me as a kind of classic country ditty. We didn’t record it like that but someday we should. It’s about being stuck with someone…like being stranded together on an island, but feeling alone and admitting….”oh well…I guess we are doing this….hope it gets better…” Love is hard, life is long and short.
2. Help Me- Luke and I wrote this together. He really wanted me to use the phrase “under cover” I don’t know why, but he requested it. And this is how it turned out. I have personal feelings about its’ meaning, but I like leaving this one open to the listener, as that isn’t always an option. I will vaguely say, to me this song is about addiction. I love the way the recording turned out. Jon Brion is a man who can play the piano. A very cool man.
3. Gone– This song is about being in a relationship you know is going to end badly. It’s one of the most sickening feelings. It could be romantic or a friendship…people underrate the pain of inspiring friendships ending. They turn your mind on. Losing a good friend can hurt as much as a romance ending, but we outgrow things and that is challenging.. I think I have learned many lessons about bad relationships. I’ve done a lot of house cleaning over the past year.
4. Comedown– I wrote this song about a person I was very irritated with. An immature man child person. I have trouble with expectations. I’m a romantic and a lover, and most people are not those things. This song is about letting go.
5. Baby Don’t– I wrote this song for my dog Patton when he was near death. I didn’t know if he would survive or not. The original lyric was “baby dog, don’t give up on me.” I would sing it to him every day as a lullaby. Thankfully he survived and is now an old man dog. Sometimes I wish I would’ve left the original lyric. My dogs are very important to me and I’m real close to them. I have a real soft spot for animals. They are the purest.
6. I Feel Fine- I wrote this during the pandemic. It’s rather literal, so I don’t know think it needs much interpretation. It’s pieced together from my own life and the lives of my friends….all the things we were feeling. Somewhere in my upbringing I was taught to act “ok” even when I’m not and be “tough” and I know other people who have a similar tendency. I say, “I’m fine” when in fact, I am not.
7. U– Although this song seems a little melancholy, it’s actually a sweet love song about the feeling of being overwhelmed in a world of noisy, rude barbarians and finding gratitude for having someone who loves and understands me and has impeccable manners. I wrote it after having words with an idiot man who was talking unbearably loud during Chan Marshall’s lovely set opening for Nick Cave at the Greek Theatre in LA. I felt so grateful to have lovely people in my life who are not rude barbarians, and can appreciate beautiful singers.
8. Wasting Time– This is my ode to anxiety. It’s meant to be a musical interpretation of my spin outs. Which have gotten better over time as I have learned to self sooth and be comfortable with the uncomfortable things my brain does. There’s a type of relief to self-acceptance and admission of our shortcomings…I think that’s where the spontaneous whooooo comes from. First and only time I’ve ever whoooooed like that. And the song is fun because if you can’t have fun with your challenges and laugh a bit at yourself, life has too much suffering.
9. Alone– Another song about a man child idiot. Why did I even write songs for such a person? I don’t know. We all make bad decisions. Fun fact: I wrote this song in the upstairs TV room of Clem Creevy’s parents house. I was cat sitting. Their house has high ceilings and does a reverby thing…I tried to keep that sound and feeling in the recording. Shout out to Nick and Caitlin…your house sonics inspired this!
10. Forget Me– Another literal song about a bad relationship. Can you believe I tolerated this? My how I’ve grown. I wanted it to feel epic at the end of the song…like in the movie Labyrinth when Sarah/Jennifer Connelly says “you have no power over me” to Jareth/David Bowie and suddenly she’s free and the false world around her collapses. Powerful movie moment.
11. Good Times– This is another one I wrote with Luke. When we write together, the music is first and that’s often hard for me. The chorus came right away, but no verse. I was being very lazy and didn’t want to write a verse so I called in a friend. There’s a whole other completely different version of this song with different lyrics and melody on the verse, which Charles wrote/sang but it felt too disconnected from the record…so I went back and wrote a new verse myself. It was the right thing to do, because I shouldn’t be so lazy. It was kind of stream of consciousness lyrics…which I don’t typically do…but why not experiment? It’s kind of got a Seinfeldy vibe to me now…once you notice something…you notice it and you can’t not notice it.
-Paige Stark
Pre-order Castaway on Bandcamp. Out July 2.
