Brisbane's Katanak returns with glossy lustful indie-pop anthem, 'Lights of Tokyo'

Brisbane artist Katanak returns with his first single of 2023, continuing his run of cleverly-crafted indie-pop with the latest track ‘Lights of Tokyo’, which is out today.

Katanak delivers a high-energy ode to unexpectedly ‘locking eyes’ with ‘that someone you click with’, managing to maintain a heartfelt quality throughout. An upbeat, modern indie-pop anthem, ‘Lights of Tokyo’ tells of meeting a new love in a foreign land, and draw modern rock inspiration from The 1975, The Wombats, and COIN.

Straddling the grey area of indie-pop meets indie-rock, Katanak has created an electrifyingly infections tune, and captured the excitement and energy of the Tokyo nightlife while being swept up in that atmosphere of meeting someone new.

‘Lights of Tokyo’ is fuzzy neon-glow indie-rock love, with ultra clean pop drums that become the racing pulses of eyes-locked flirtations. The edges have been taken off the guitars, with the bass taking on just a touch of sharpness in the tone, and synths fluttering. Katanak is channelling his inner Matt Healy on this new single, with modern romanticisms pouring out lyrically, and conveyed via indie-pop soaked vocal takes. It’s a glossy, lustful bounce that creeps into the back of your head.

The Brisbane based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has worked with an incredible team on this one. Each aspect of ‘Lights of Tokyo' reflects the team who put it together. Self-produced by Katanak, with incredible sonic finishing vibes by Matt McGuiffe (Ivy), Studio work with Jordan Bain at The Plutonium and Aidan Hogg's (Jaguar Jonze, Hope D) dynamic mixing rounds out the track's anthemic love story. Katanak once again shows his ability to switch up genres and jolt his listeners into paying attention.  

Katanak says: “Lights of Tokyo was among one of the first lot of songs I ever wrote and it's still my favourite track to play live. Back when I wrote this track, I was influenced by early 2000's Australian rock and artists such as Powderfinger and Pete Murray. Matt McGuiffe was able to transform it and give it a totally UK modern rock/indie pop sound. I was stoked to find that Aidan Hogg was also a huge fan of the bands I listened to, so it was easy to convey to him exactly what I wanted this track to sound like. I can't wait for everyone to hear it!”

 'Lights of Tokyo' is available for now on all major streaming platforms, and is the first taste of Katanak’s upcoming debut EP.