After the 2023 release of his album Diagnosis, Chicago-based art-pop musician Sen Morimoto has surprise-released an EP of outtakes from the record today via City Slang / Sooper Records. The singer-songwriter is sharing the five-track collection, BONK!, alongside a slate of North American tour dates — including a couple of Canadian stops in Montreal and Toronto.
"Tasked with creating a radio-friendly version of the title track to Diagnosis, I wound up censoring the only expletive on the whole album with the sound of a frying pan (the kind you might hear in an episode of Tom & Jerry)," Morimoto explained in a press release. "BONK! is a collection of songs from the Diagnosis sessions that didn't make the final track list. I think I needed to tour the record and get to understand the album in another context to finish these."
He continued, "The final track on the EP is a live take from our radio session at WXPN in Philly. What joy it brought me to finally belt, 'Fuck the cops, the banks, the legislature' on the radio. The live take features my touring band: Ryan Person, Kaina Castillo, Kurt Shelby and Elijah Bradford."
The artist will continue road-wearing the material on tour this summer, beginning with a performance at Milwaukee's Summerfest on June 20. Morimoto dips his toes into Canadian waters the following month for shows at Montreal's Club Soda (July 3) and Toronto's Drake Underground (July 5) before bringing things to a close in Paw Paw, MI, on July 7.
Listen to the EP below, where you can also check out the musician's tour schedule.
Sen Morimoto 2024 Tour Dates:
06/20 Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
06/21 Columbus, OH - Rumba Café
06/23 Washington, D.C. - Songbyrd
06/24 Philadelphia, PA - MilkBoy
06/25 New York, NY - TV Eye
06/27 Boston, MA - Crystal Ballroom
06/28 Greenfield, MA - Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center
06/29 Portland, ME - SPACE
07/02 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Ballroom
07/03 Montreal, QC - Club Soda
07/05 Toronto, ON - The Drake
07/06 Detroit, MI - New Dodge Lounge
07/07 Paw Paw, MI - Lucky Wolf