Shakai Mondai is searching for a second chance in new Astro Nautico single “No Face”

Philadelphia producer, vocalist and songwriter Rachel Ishikawa revived their electronic pop project Shakai Mondai for the Astro Nautico singles series, an ongoing run of releases raising money for COVID-19 relief microgrants to independent artists. The series has previously featured exclusive tracks by Kingsley Ibeneche, Savan DePaul’s Ishtar Sr., Jasmine Cassell and more.

Shakai Mondai’s previous release was the Bad EP, which came out in 2015 on Odd Castles; they’ve released a handful of standalone tracks — including demos and remixes – via Soundcloud in the years since.

The song builds thrillingly from minimal to maximal, with humming synth undertones at the opening scoring Ishikawa’s contemplative vocal seeking rebirth and rejuvination — “I see the shape but no face / I need a second chance, I want a second chance” — while the song bursts at the 1:15 mark into a glorious electropop chorus, a hefty dose of clubby pop with a sleek R&B flare.

Listen below, and find out more about the singles series here.