Masaki Batoh's solo career continues to rise up with his fifth solo album (and second in the last two years), Smile Jesus Loves YOU.

Following the mostly solitary activity of making 2019's Nowhere, Batoh has invited several guests to play with him for parts of Smile Jesus Loves YOU. Like family members, collaborators from The Silence and Ghost make guest appearances, including, for two songs, ex-Ghost and legendary percussionist Hiroyuki Usui (Fushitsusha). As long time listeners of Ghost and The Silence are well aware, Batoh's music is of the world and for the world . . . it exists as part of the conundrum of the world, for us to hear and form thought or feeling. We have no way of knowing it, other than to listen.
 

For the journey of this new album, Batoh takes us a great distance, singing in Japanese, English, Spanish and Latin, including an amazing cover of one of his heroes, Atahualpa Yupanqui. Batoh plays a variety of stringed instruments throughout, as well as mellotron and shanai, supported at times by the playing of others on flute, piano, lap steel, saxophone, contra bass and drums. The songs expand with music styles of the world shifting and merging to form their whole. Through phases of dark and light, including some new musical discoveries in Batoh's world, we travel through the multipart epic title track to salvation. This world is a difficult place, whether or not the gods will come to save us, but there is a happy ending for us if we accept and make it so.

As with all of Batoh's recent releases,Smile Jesus Loves YOU is a 100% analogue recording of absolutely human playing, with no digital copying and pasting. This allows us to hear and feel the air around the recording as if it is our own. And we do! Listen to the first single "In The Hour of Serpent" now and pre order Smile Jesus Loves YOU for May 8th.