Shutaro Noguchi

Featuring: The Roadhouse Band, Ryan Davis

"Shutaro Noguchi didn’t set out to make a farewell album, but On the Run captures a moment of profound change. Recorded just weeks before moving back to Japan after 20 formative years in America (spent primarily Louisville, Kentucky), the album reflects a life in motion - rooted in memories, yet reaching toward the unknown.

In Louisville, Noguchi had built a creative home with a tight-knit crew, crafting beloved records that ranged from the country-rock swagger of Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band to the mutant grooves of Equipment Pointed Ankh. Meanwhile, he released compelling solo work, including the full-band psych rock gem Love Super Terranean on Feeding Tube Records. With On the Run, Noguchi joins The Roadhouse Band once more for a searching, expressive collaboration - an album made at a threshold between past and future.

The opening track “Olympic 3.5” begins with Noguchi in solitary introspection: "Now the wind is blowing / It’s passing me by … I’m getting a little too used to watching this sunset." He’s soon joined by the syncopated rhythms and lilting synths of The Roadhouse camp, constructing a warped odyssey that intertwines the cosmic spirit of Gong with the melodic, pop-driven abstraction of Ryuichi Sakamoto. Noguchi returns with Wyatt-esque wordless vocalizations before the song spirals into a dark, abstract descent.

Jazz-tinged numbers like “Apocalypse/Calendar” and “River Dagger” highlight Noguchi’s singular compositional voice. His relaxed vocals float over otherworldly arrangements, while “Drive My Cape Cod” - a voice memo captured during a long car ride and completed in the studio - offers a candid glimpse into his melodic daydreaming, in a move reminiscent of Maher Shalal Hash Baz, where casual, unpolished moments reveal deeper emotion.