Inspired by the community of his Detroit hometown, Ghostly International artist Shigeto announces third album. It’s been four years since Zach Saginaw, aka Shigeto, returned home to Michigan from a stint in Brooklyn, NY, and since then, the multi-faceted musician has become a part of the fabric of Detroit’s music scene. While always having a personal approach to his projects, Saginaw’s influences for his third album, The New Monday, are more about the community of Detroit than anything else. Named after a weekly DJ event called Monday is the New Monday that Saginaw does at the unassuming Motor City Wine with a group of friends, The New Monday is the result of Saginaw diving into the city’s deep record culture, where the legacy of artists of the past help Saginaw embrace his own contributions.
The New Monday is Shigeto’s first LP release since 2013’s No Better Time Than Now. One of the best loved tracks from that album was the spacious ‘Detroit Part I’, so it's fitting that he kicks off this next chapter with searing album opener ‘Detroit Part II’. The visuals for ‘Detroit Part II’ chronicle Shigeto’s own return to Detroit and the community he’s become a staple in. The accompanying visuals follow Shigeto and his close friends as they explore the city, including saxophonist Marcus Elliot, before culminating at MotorCity Wine, during Monday is the New Monday — the weekly event where Shigeto has taken residency.
Filmed in black and white and with infrared filters, the textured images are reminiscent of techno videos of the early 90’s, famously having an influence on Detroit’s techno scene. To the city and the people Shigeto has surrounded himself with since coming back to Detroit, “Detroit Part II” is an ode to the creative influences that have cultivated such a strong and collaborative community for Shigeto.
“It’s focused on a couple things and they all kind of come together to represent different things,” explains Saginaw about the new album. “My time back in Detroit, back living in Michigan and spending time with a lot of kind of original people who have always been here, learning from them, hearing stories from them, being influenced by them, and inspired by them.”
While, in the past, projects like Lineage or No Better Time Than Now were rooted in strong personal messages, family and relationships respectively, The New Monday represents a communal effort where solidarity is the key. Going for a simplified approach of just trying to make good tracks, The New Monday is diverse in its styles leaning more into a dance music direction – new ground for a Shigeto project. A new air of confidence in Saginaw has expanded his horizons since his return to Detroit, but traces of his past work will continue to be present.
“I don’t want people to think I’m leaving anything,” says Saginaw. “I’m still me. It’s a result of me being immersed in the culture, and inevitably making music that is influenced by that culture whether it be house, techno, jazz, rap. It doesn’t matter. It’s all coming from what I love about Michigan.”
“I think over the past four years, I can confidently say that I found my place here,” describes Saginaw. “I’m happy here and I feel that I have the respect from the people I need respect from, that I want respect from. It’s all of the result of embracing it and embracing, not Detroit, but embracing community, embracing family, being closer to my parents, being closer to my oldest friends.”
The New Monday track list:
01. Detroit Part II (Official video)
02. Barry White (ft. ZelooperZ)
03. Ice Breaker
04. In Case You Forgot
05. There's A Vibe Tonight (ft. Kaleena Zanders)
06. A2D (ft. ZelooperZ & Silas Green) (AAPV)
07. Wit Da Cup
08. Don't Trip (ft. Silas Green)
09. When We Low
