Diagnosis Sen Morimoto

• 1If the Answer Isn't Love02:51
• 2Bad State02:23
• 3St. Peter Blind02:52
• 4Diagnosis03:09
• 5Pressure on the Pulse03:26
• 6Naive02:31
• 7Feel Change03:44
• 8What You Say03:42
• 9Surrender02:58
• 10Deeper05:12
• 11Pain02:49
• 12Forsythia (レンギョウの旋律)03:42
• 13Reality04:03
• Total Runtime43:22

Info for Diagnosis

Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Sen Morimoto’s third album Diagnosis sees him flip the script. After releasing two albums – 2018 debut Cannonball! and a 2021 self- titled follow-up – via his own Sooper Records, the artist signed to City Slang to co- release his third album alongside Sooper, and it came at a time of fundamental change.

The 12 tracks here, recorded at Chicago’s Friends Of Friends studio with a few close collaborators, skip between funky, bright jazz-pop (‘Bad State’), intricate guitar-based tracks with a Radiohead feel (“What You Say”) and orchestral wonderlands “Forsythia (レンギョウの旋律)". Highlight “Pressure On The Pulse,” meanwhile, is a devastatingly intimate, quiet song that then explodes into an exuberant, animated whirlwind of sax and drums. A chameleonic figure at the album’s core, he can rip out a sax solo, dive deep into intimate singer-songwriter territory and lead massive, roaring alt-pop songs with equal aplomb.

Morimoto describes his musical reference points for the album as “equal parts Funkadelic and Dinosaur Jr.,” and while these touchpoints can be heard all over the record, it doesn’t feel beholden to them, instead using their inspiration before moving beyond it.

Sen Morimoto

Sen Morimoto
is a Japanese American singer / multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Chicago. His mix of jazz and hip-hop production, spoken-word rap and pop sensibilities form a super-genre of modern songwriting and experimental grooves.

Sen has spent years collaborating with all scenes in Chicago from rap (Pivot Gang), Pop (KAINA), Jazz (Resavoir), Indie (Lala Lala), etc… He’s a conduit to all the different scenes and it goes beyond making music. He’s a label head (Sooper Records), an Activist (was on the front page of the Chicago Tribune for it in 2020) and is also a part of the poetry and writing scene.

His 2018 debut LP Cannonball! Was co-released by media giant 88Rising and the Chicago indie label that Sen co-owns, Sooper Records. He subsequently released his self-titled 2020 follow up on Sooper Records. Both albums garnered critical acclaim in the USA, Europe, and Japan, and led Sen out onto the road including several tours of the USA, three tours of Japan, and appearances at Festivals including the Boiler Room Jazz Festival (UK), Summersonic (Tokyo), Boro Festa (Kyoto), Head In The Clouds (USA), Treefort Festival (USA) and PDX Jazz Festival (USA). PRESS

“If the dog days are gonna keep coming, we can put our trust in Sen Morimoto to guide us through.” – THE FADER

“Sen Morimoto’s forthcoming self-titled LP is sure to make best-of lists…masterfully blends his disparate influences together, from jazz, hip-hop, and experimental music, into one futuristic and exciting combination.” – VICE

This album contains no booklet.