Mei Semones is a 23-year-old Japanese-American Brooklynite making sorta jazzy indie-pop that occasionally breaks out into virtuosic flourishes of guitar or orchestral strings. Her Kabutomushi EP is coming next month via Bayonet, the esteemed label founded by Beach Fossils dude Dustin Payseur. She’s already shared a couple songs from the release, and today she offers up the opening track, “Tegami.”

Semones shared this statement on the track:

“Tegami” was my first time experimenting with Bossa Nova style music in odd meters. It’s a love song. My partner likes to write me letters, but I’m not very good at writing letters back. So instead I wrote this song, hence the name of the song “Tegami” which means “letter” in Japanese. I think the range of style is really noticeable in this song, and it’s one of our more ambitious string arrangements with lots of intricate lines & textures.

Below, hear studio and live versions of “Tegami” and catch up on prior singles “Wakare No Kotoba” and “Inaka.”

Kabutomushi is out 4/5 on Bayonet. Pre-order it here.