Five years after the release of Tanukichan’s critically acclaimed debut LP Sundays, the artist returns with her long-awaited sophomore album GIZMO on March 3. Unlike the dreamy shoegaze sound associated with Sundays, GIZMO integrates a grimy, grunge sound reminiscent of 90s rock bands.

Zooming in from her Oakland apartment, overgrown with potted plants, Hannah van Loon arrived just on time wearing a pale pink sweatshirt. Her shy, laid-back personality comforted me throughout our conversation as she concisely answered my questions, a direct reflection of her appeasing music.

Before GIZMO’s release, van Loon delivered four singles that encapsulated the new sound attached to the project. She said that while creating the album, she listened to a multitude of older rock bands and wanted to provide elements of alt-metal into her music. “Oh, man, I love Incubus,” van Loon confessed before bursting out into laughter.

van Loon admitted that unlike on previous records, she took her time crafting GIZMO with Chaz Bear (Toro y Moi), who serves as her producer and signed her to Company Records. She described the album process as more relaxed and spread out over time due to her rapport with Bear. “I think we’re both happy with the old album and the old EP, so maybe it felt like, ‘Alright, we could do this again,’” van Loon said.

“Thin Air” includes a collaboration with lo-fi grunge band Enumclaw and occurred after Bear met the group and deemed them a perfect fit. The song includes dense, grimy guitar riffs that match the hefty theme of parting ways from a relationship that no longer serves you: “Maybe I’ll see you one last time / Who knows if I could stay around for your love?” Amaris Johnson, the lead singer of Enumclaw, delivers deep, distressing vocals that juxtapose van Loon’s pacifying voice. “The song really needed that angst, and he even screams, so it was a really good place for the song to go,” van Loon said.

Many of van Loon’s tracks hone in on positivity rather than strictly focusing on the hardships of life. “Sometimes shit is hard, but that’s okay,” she said. Over the pounding drum beat and heavy bassline, “Don’t Give Up,” in particular, emphasizes this idea as van Loon sings about the mental difficulties she encountered while opening for The Drums in 2019: “So don’t give up now / You know there is another day / Just know you’re going to get to a better place.” She revealed that the sparseness of the track has made it her favorite off of GIZMO.

With fuzzy, lively tracks such as “Take Care” and “Make Believe,” van Loon said she constructed GIZMO in hopes of providing exciting tracks for her upcoming spring tour. “I wanted to have some more songs that were more upbeat and kind of in your face,” she said. She especially voiced how exhilarated she feels to hit the road with shoegaze / dream-pop artist Winter. When mentioning her show lineup, van Loon jokingly apologized for not having a show in Boston.

You can listen to van Loon’s new album GIZMO on all streaming platforms and follow Tanukichan on Instagram and Twitter to keep up with her North America tour.

Positivity meets grunge-y shoegaze: Tanukichan returns with sophomore album GIZMO