Artificial Sweeteners

After an impressive string of albums that were built for the dancefloor and had an inescapable charm, it might seem like the time was right for Fujiya & Miyagi to stumble. They don't even break their stride a little on their fourth record, 2014's Artificial Sweeteners, and it delivers all the light-hearted, rubber-limbed fun of previous efforts, while mostly abandoning the slightly melancholy feel that bubbled under the surface sheen of previous record Ventriloquizzing. Stripped back down to a trio, Artificial Sweeteners has a punchy, streamlined sound that is layered with blipping vintage synths, warm washes of colorful sound, acrobatic basslines and steadily pulsing machine driven rhythms. While Ventriloquizzing may have been the band's most musically accomplished album, this brings them back to the way they sound best. It also has quite a few songs that bring to mind their most well-loved song, "Knickerbocker," especially the witty and ultra-catchy "Acid to My Alkaline" which sh