If Amy Winehouse took over Hozier’s second album, Sakai‘s debut EP Do You Like Me Now? would be the result. Sakai is a San Francisco-based project consisting of Marié Sakai (singer and songwriter) alongside Audie Bethea (guitar), Brendon Daugherty (bass), Caroline Carter (drums), and Ryan DiCenzo (keys). On the four-track EP, lyrics about existentialism, loss and desire are accompanied by the instrumental that blends the structure of traditional Japanese music with modern indie rock and jazz. Marié Sakai shares:
“It feels so good to release the EP. It’s a vulnerable thing, sharing something you’ve poured yourself into with the world… It’s a delicate dance.”
The opening track ‘Orange Tree‘ deceives you with its tranquillity, starting in a ballad-like manner and then completely unravelling at the end. Inspired by an 8th-century Japanese poem and built using Hirajoshi, a Japanese pentatonic scale, the track takes you down the protagonist’s memory lane, where the reminder of the past relationship is as bittersweet as a citrus fruit.
‘Out‘, the lead single, is a more upbeat track that directs its energy into conveying the feeling of trying to run away from the fiercest enemy one can have — their own self. Marié describes the song’s essence as a loop of self-questioning:
“What if I’m solely disappointed? Or what if it’s me who’s the disappointment?”
‘Wanted‘ is about desire from the most self-deprecating point of view. The object of the protagonist’s adoration is like an untouchable “idol” to them, with the phrase “I’ll never be enough” iterating throughout the song. Marié Sakai reflects on the track’s sonic development: “Conner Currie, lead guitarist on this EP, really made ‘Wanted’ what it is with his beautiful harmonics. They’re a combination of fragile and resonant.”
The title track ‘Do You Like Me Now?’ puts an end to the EP in an intense, passionate way. Sometimes the burnout from the constant people-pleasing can end in a cathartic conclusion that is the song’s outro, where a grand piano is implemented.
Listening to Do You Like Me Now? is like sitting down in a dimly lit bar from a neonoir movie where you are a background character, destined to stay on the sidelines and watch the lives of others, but finding enjoyment in it nonetheless.
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