The British trio Kero Kero Bonito is universally beloved for expanding the lexicon of indie pop to include a distinct kawaii sensibility. We witnessed this first-hand when the band played its first-ever show in Singapore to a packed-out crowd in 2016. Since then, the band, fronted by Sarah Midori Perry, has announced that it will chime in on the increasingly globalised veneer of pop in the form of its new album Time 'N' Place, due for release later this year. And earlier today, the band unveiled the the album’s second advance single, 'Make Believe', which succeeds its first listen, ‘Time Today’. 

'Make Believe' reprises the group's main charms: Perry’s cherry-kissed vocals, saccharine melodies and precision engineered likeability that is foremostly pop. 

But there’s a switch-up here that certainly warrants consideration. The group has imbued its sworls of fairy lit sound with a measure of distortion that is utterly refreshing. On the hook, the listener is greeted with a jagged surge of chords that suffuses the whole with a kinetic edge. There’s a melody-driven thrust here that nods to shoegaze and the DIY spirit of the C86 phase of British pop music.

Listen to it below.