Mei Semones is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter based in New York whose debut full-length Animaru (released in May 2025) fuses elements of indie rock, bossa nova jazz and Japanese pop. With technical sophistication and accessible charm, Mei and her ensemble pair complex and ambitious jazz arrangements with inviting, melodic pop songwriting.

Semones studied jazz guitar performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston, introducing her to the wide range of music that influences her style today, as well as meeting the fellow young musicians who would become her bandmates. Her band, consisting of Noah Leong (viola), Claudius Agrippa (violin), Noam Tanzer (bass), and Ransom McCafferty (drums) are all Berklee College graduates, and the group that appears on Animaru is the same tight-knit unit that Semones leads on stage, faithfully reproducing the album’s complex textures live, as the group jumps seamlessly from thumping rock grooves to nimble samba rhythms.

Even more unique is Semones’ bilingual songwriting, interweaving English and Japanese fluidly within her songs. Choruses switch languages as the lyrics on Animaru celebrate non-romantic love in all its forms, from family, to music, to self-confidence. The album art features a surreal cartoonish angel-winged rodent drawn by Mei’s mother Seiko Semones, a cute and bizarre animal which perfectly encapsulates the album’s charming, whimsical, and unconventional spirit.

We caught up with Mei Semones to find out more about Animaru:

We can use terms like jazz-influenced indie J-pop, but how do you describe your sound and what do you hope to achieve with your music?

Did you have any specific artists or albums that you kept in mind while making Animaru, or is it just a sprawl of different influences?

What do you consider the benefits of writing in two languages?

Your music has a delightful sense of joy throughout, is there a reason you’re so drawn to light sounds and themes in your songwriting?

Can you talk about some of the topics on the album? Is there a love letter to a pigeon on it?

How do you and your bandmates arrange the songs, and how has your bond as a unit developed through touring?

As far as we’re aware, you all come from a formal jazz background, but you’re touring like an indie rock band. Do you find these live shows different to venues you may have played in a jazz setting previously?

Has any of this changed how you think about what it means to connect with an audience?

What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned throughout the process of making and touring your debut album?

Who would play at Mei Semones’ dream festival?