“It’s a big thing coming,” Marina Sakimoto sings in “Hellbound,” the lead single off her first record in 6 years, and a big thing is coming indeed because Shunkan, the LA-based rock project of Sakimoto, is excited to announce her third studio album, Kamikaze Girl, out May 6, 2025 via Houston’s tastemaking Rite Field Records.
Recorded last year in Joshua Tree, CA and produced by Alex Newport (Death Cab for Cutie, Melvins, The Mountain Goats), the incoming record inspects how to put things back together after falling apart. Heralding the announcement is the aforementioned “Hellbound,” a hazy, melancholic track that expects the worst and wants the best. Grounded by Sakimoto’s honeyed vocals, brightly toned guitar riffs reverberate like late-night memories and desire-driven mistakes.
“I like ‘Hellbound’ as the first track of the album because it feels like the initial descent into a transformative period for me,” says Sakimoto. “There’s that space in your life where you start sensing something (or someone) may not be the best for you, but the allure of it keeps you around because… what else do you have to lose? Nihilism—mixed with a lost sense of identity—is one hell of a drug. Sonically, I wanted this track to reflect what I was listening to at the time, which started with revisiting the ‘Lost in Translation’ soundtrack while I was in Japan.”
Shunkan’s sound melds angular, emotive guitar work with anthemic melodies, channeling the raw intensity of second-wave emo and the vibrant hooks of early-2000s alternative rock. It’s a dynamic style that has earned critical acclaim for her EP Honey, Milk and Blood and debut album The Pink Noise.
Are you rocking with “Hellbound” from Shunkan?
