Sen Morimoto Shares “Chewing Gum” with Kaina Castillo

Sen Morimoto has released “Chewing Gum,” another preview from the forthcoming album Time Is On Your Side. Kaina Castillo joins on the chorus, where the two voices are close enough that, as Morimoto told Stereogum, they often can’t tell who is singing which part.

The song is built around competing rhythms. Morimoto says each instrument plays in its own time signature or interpretation of one, with the opposing meters meeting back up “occasionally like old friends.” That structural idea mirrors the lyric’s focus on memory and the conversation between past and present selves.

The video came together after an earlier plan fell through. Castillo sent Morimoto footage of a Massachusetts sunset. Morimoto’s brother Yuya, calling from Japan, suggested animating a piece of gum singing the track. With no stop-motion experience and little time, Morimoto bought Silly Putty and a large quantity of Big League Chew and taught themselves to animate. The finished mix, they say, recalls early YouTube videos and warped 1990s Nickelodeon.

Time Is On Your Side is Morimoto’s fourth album and follows 2023’s Diagnosis. It arrives 23 October via Sooper Records and includes nine tracks, among them “Overthinker,” “Leave It All Behind,” and “Flashback.” Morimoto has described the album as reflecting a changed