Featuring members of the Notwist and Tenniscoats, the avant-indie pop supergroup Spirit Fest is a charming celebration of music and friendship. The cozy yet spontaneous blend of folk, pop, and experimental improvisation on their self-titled 2017 debut reflected the band's impromptu beginnings, but later albums like 2020's Mirage Mirage and 2023's Bear in Town deepened their music while retaining its playfulness and warmth. Spirit Fest came into being in late 2016, when the Notwist's Markus Acher invited Saya and Takashi Ueno of the acclaimed Japanese indie duo Tenniscoats to appear at his Alien Disko Festival in Munich. During the two weeks Tenniscoats were in town, they and Acher, Notwist collaborator Cico Beck, and Jam Money's Mat Fowler recorded songs in an apartment studio with producer Tadklimp. A pair of singles, "Hitori Matsuri" and "Rain Rain," heralded the release of Spirit Fest's self-titled album, which Morr released in November 2017. While touring Europe in support of the album, the group continued to write songs and recorded them on the road and at Acher's Munich home. Spirit Fest released the results as Anohito in September 2018. That November, the group began recording their third album at Tenniscoats' Tokyo home studio, then completed it in Munich in June 2019. Released in May 2020, Mirage Mirage once again balanced more structured songs with lighthearted improvisations. Despite the COVID-19 global pandemic, Spirit Fest managed to play a short European tour in 2021. While Saya, Takashi, Acher, and Beck were all together, they recorded most of their fourth album (Fowler contributed his parts remotely from Britain). The results were September 2023's Bear in Town, which melded bossa nova, electronic, and folk elements in its soothing yet lively set of songs. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi