Chai’s self-titled fourth album is a celebration of the Japanese band’s identity and the music that inspires them. Specifically, the bilingual foursome pays tribute to the 1970s Tokyo-born “city pop” music genre, which borrows from jazz, boogie, funk, and soft rock. “Matcha” is a slinky, synthy meditation on teatime being me time. The inclusive riot grrrl anthem “We the Female!” pokes fun at prescribed gender roles; the self-love message of psychedelic freakout “Neo Kawaii, K?” rivals Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”: “This is just my body, not a trendy body/Gonna be loved, baby!/Just as I am.”
