Mei Semones – “2 Hands”

We named Mei Semones an Artist To Watch last year on the strength of her debut album Animaru, an idiosyncratic yet seamlessly polished amalgamation of jazzy guitar, bossa nova rhythms, chamber-pop arrangements, and indie rock heft. She announced its follow-up Howl, her first for Verve/Interscope, and shared its lovely title track last month. And today she's back with a second single."2 Hands" is another gorgeous offering, incorporating South Asian tabla into Semones' hybridized genre stew as she professes her devotion to music itself. "I'll give you my two hands/ I'll give you my whole heart / Offer my life and it's still not enough/ This path that continues forever/ As long as I live know what I need to do," she sings in both Japanese and English.The song features a music video featuring Semones playing alongside her longtime bandmates Ransom McCafferty, Noah Leong, Claudius Agrippa, and Noam Tanzer. "Everyone in my band is such an incredible musician and I feel so lucky and grateful to play with them, and that's what this song is about!" she says. "So for this video I wanted to capture what it's like to play music with them, and highlight how amazing and talented each of them are...