Recently, Derek Torres—formerly of T0w3rs, a fluid solo-project-slash-sometimes-band pop outfit—moved back to the Triangle. T0w3rs had been his main creative outlet for eight years before he took a musical sabbatical, now, he’s returned to both the Triangle and music as Sengoko, a name drawn from his Japanese surname (Sengoku in actuality; Sengoko as its longtime mispronunciation).
Premiering today on the INDY website, “Honeycombs (Here We are Again)” is one of Torres’s first music video forays as Sengoko. Backed by The Saline Dreams (Triangle regulars Gabriel Anderson, Saman Khoujinian, and Patrick Terrell), the performance took place last November at the historic Hanes House at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem as part of SECCA’s brand new concert series, “Night Moods.”
Together with The Saline Dreams, the project is an energetic, fist-pumping love letter to a suburban age of big hopes, long nights, and VHS films. (You can practically sense Molly Ringwald’s birthday cake candles flickering offscreen.) More specifically, the song is about making a choice—the wrong one—of asking someone to stay. It also heralds the welcome return of a local musician and some local synth-laced eighties pop momentum.
You can watch the video below; Sengoko also has two upcoming performance dates: March 18 at the station, and March 19 at The Pourhouse with Lonnie Walker and Nightblooms.
Support independent local journalism. Join the INDY Press Club to help us keep fearless watchdog reporting and essential arts and culture coverage viable in the Triangle.
Follow Arts & Culture Editor Sarah Edwards on Twitter or send an email to sedwards@indyweek.com.
