Half Japanese announce new album ‘Jump Into Love,’ share “We Are Giants” video

DIY/low-fi cult legends Half Japanese have announced a new album, Jump Into Love, which will be out July 21 via Fire. Jad Fair made the album with the current lineup of the band, that includes John Sluggett, Gilles-Vincent Rieder, Mick Hobbs and Jason Willett, and recorded remotely in Baltimore; Bloomington; Donneville, France; and Tarragona, Spain. “The band members live such a far distance from each other. John is up in Asheville area. Gilles is living in Switzerland. Mick lives in London. It's such a distance that we're not able to rehearse so of course it's going to keep a kind of rawness to it,” says Jad.

“I feel a need to do music and do songwriting," says Jad of his process. "It's something I really miss when I'm not doing it. There's a certain amount of tranquility that's obtained from the fact that you can be working on songs each day. I think you use that certain portion of your brain that is otherwise not used. I kind of kind of prefer using it than not using it.”

The first single is "We Are Giants," a typically open-hearted song that is unmistakably from the mind of Jad Fair. Watch the animated video, which is also unmistakably a Jad Fair creation, below.

Jump Into Love:
1. It's OK
2. We Are Giants
3. True Love Will Save The Day
4. Listen To The Bells Chime
5. Jump into Love
6. The Answer is Yes
7. Shining Sun
8. This Isn't Funny
9. Step Inside
10. Here She Comes
11. Shining Stars
12. Zombie World