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Photo: Cameron Lew

One of my lifelong fears has been the idea of finding myself trapped in an elevator (or somehow getting sucked up in an escalator but that’s an anxiety for another time). Yet, I imagine that persistent form of distress would be quieted somewhat if Ginger Root’s self-described “aggressive elevator soul” was emanating from the speakers. 

Today sees not only the release of Ginger Root’s latest nostalgia-tinged single “No Problems,” but news of his forthcoming album SHINBANGUMI, set to release September 13 via Ghostly International Records. Built around Cameron Lew’s fascination with ‘70s and ‘80s music, particularly Japanese city pop, French pop, and Philly soul, Ginger Root’s trademark sound, and subsequently “No Problems,” emerges as a simmering hot pot of warm, familiar influences and novel, groove-inducing ideas.  

The forthcoming album, SHINBANGUMI, is a conceptual album that mirrors Lew’s own artist story and follows the narrative of his 2022 EP, Nisemono, picking up with Ginger Root as a freshly-fired music supervisor in 1987. "If you watch music videos one through eight, you'll be presented with a story that’s comparable to a traditional movie; something I've always wanted to do,” shares the multi-faceted artist. “On the more personal side, I'm coming out of the last four years of writing, touring, and living as a different person; SHINBANGUMI is a platform to showcase my new self."  

Speaking on the new single, he continues, "I was in the midst of writing a ton of new songs that all felt like I was forcing them to be something that they weren’t. I wrote ‘No Problems’ without expectations or templates to inform its sound, and the result was a track that came out as an unapologetically Ginger Root-esque song. In a lot of ways it is a great mirror of what SHINBANGUMI became—a project where I finally found confidence in what I was doing rather than finding myself imitating others."

Watch the “No Problems” video below: