CHAI

CHAI was an impossibly exuberant and effervescent pop band based in Tokyo, made up of identical twins Mana and Kana at the front on keyboard and guitar and a solid rhythm section in Yuuki and Yuna on bass and drums. Their music is invariably upbeat and uptempo, dance friendly synth pop, and all the good fun that comes with it, having clearly mastered the concept of pop as a band. They tended to use a variety of idioms in their music, whether it was hip-hop or pop punk, but with always a remarkably consistent layer of CHAI that lies on top, making sure the music sounds like it could have come from no one else. This was true even as they seemingly moved away from their usual ruthlessly cute bombast starting with their 2021 album Wink.