CHAI drop ‘Whole’, a dancey new single about unconditional love

Japanese indie quartet CHAI have shared ‘Whole’, a dancey new single with a compassionate message.

• READ MORE: CHAI: Neo-kawaii ambassadors broaden the horizons of their self-love on new album ‘WINK’

The track arrived on streaming services on Thursday (January 13) and arrives ahead of their forthcoming EP ‘WINK Together’ – a collection of remixes of their latest studio album ‘WINK’.

The funky ‘Whole’, which was produced by Scoobert Doobert, will also serve as the theme song of a new Japanese rom-com series Koi-senu Futari. Listen to it below:

According to CHAI, the song’s lyrics were inspired by Koi-senu Futari, which has a storyline centering on an aromantic/asexual couple, and are about unconditional and universal love.

“Sometimes, no one empathizes with you. But is that really a bad thing? I don’t want to make my thing, or someone else’s thing, something to be ashamed of. Because our ‘differences’ may not be our enemies,” CHAI bassist and lyricist Yuuki said in a statement.

“I wish we could love each other’s little differences and little similarities entirely – that’s the hope behind this song.”

The latest track also comes ahead of their North American tour, which starts on February 4. The tour will see them play headline shows as well as opening sets for Mitski.

‘Whole’ comes less than a month after CHAI shared a cover of Wham!‘s holiday classic ‘Last Christmas’.

In December, the band also shared reworks of their songs by Japanese band Zazen Boys (‘Action’) and Australian dance duo Confidence Man (‘End’). Both tracks will be featured on the ‘WINK Together’ EP, which contains reimagined versions of songs from their third full-length album WINK.

CHAI’s third album – their first for the label Sub Pop – arrived in May last year and sees the band trade in their signature dance-punk sounds for more eclectic influences.

“Because we made it at home without thinking of that live context, we came to think of ‘WINK’ as our best friend,” the band’s keyboardist Mana told NME in May.

“We wanted it to be the friend closest by your side when you needed them most: what would cry together with you, what would be angry together with you, and what would scream along with you.”

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