Alt-rock and indie-soul project Sakai step into a defining new chapter with the release of their debut EP, Do You Like Me Now?, accompanied by a release celebration in San Francisco. Following a year of performances across both coasts and the arrival of their debut single “Out,” the five-piece now presents a four-track project that explores vulnerability, longing, identity, loss, and the complicated ways we see ourselves through other people’s eyes.
Formed in 2025, Sakai brings together Japan-born songwriter and vocalist Marié Sakai with guitarist Audie Bethea, bassist Brendon Daugherty, drummer Caroline Carter, and keyboardist Ryan DiCenzo. Together, they create a sound that moves between raw indie rock textures and soulful vocals, while drawing from jazz, funk, blues, and Japanese musical traditions. The result is a project that feels emotionally intimate while remaining musically adventurous.
Recorded at Tiny Telephone Recording in Oakland, California, with additional overdubs at Women’s Audio Mission in San Francisco, Do You Like Me Now? was engineered and mixed by Danielle Goldsmith and mastered by Amar Lal of Macro Sound. Album artwork photography comes from Colleen Phan-Eversman.
At the heart of the EP is the tension between vulnerability and performance. Sakai examines the desire to connect while simultaneously fearing exposure, questioning how much of our identity is shaped by the expectations and perceptions of others. As Marié Sakai puts it, “It feels so good to release the DYLMN EP. It’s a vulnerable thing, sharing something you’ve poured yourself into with the world… It’s a delicate dance.”
The EP opens with “Orange Tree,” a song inspired by an eighth-century Japanese poem and a shamisen and koto recital Marié attended in San Francisco. Combining literary inspiration with contemporary songwriting, the track uses the Hirajoshi scale, a traditional Japanese pentatonic tuning system, alongside flute, an instrument Marié specifically returned to for the recording. The song reflects on the impermanence of relationships, recognizing that love can be both cherished and regretted while still holding meaning.
“Out,” the project’s lead single, turns inward, confronting existential anxiety and patterns of avoidance. Its central tension comes from wanting to fully engage with life while simultaneously retreating into distraction. Marié captures that conflict through a cycle of self-questioning, asking whether disappointment comes from the world around us or from ourselves.
“Wanted” was written in a single sitting following an emotionally charged interpersonal experience. The song captures the physical intensity of longing and emotional stress while deliberately leaving the nature of the relationship undefined, allowing listeners to bring their own experiences into the story. Guitarist Conner Currie’s delicate harmonics add another emotional dimension, creating a sound that feels both fragile and resonant.
The title track, “Do You Like Me Now?”, explores people-pleasing, fractured identity, and the exhaustion that comes from constantly seeking approval. Its arrangement builds toward a powerful dynamic shift that mirrors the emotional intensity of the subject matter. A spontaneous studio decision involving a grand piano ultimately became one of the track’s defining musical moments.
While Marié Sakai’s songwriting provides the emotional foundation, Do You Like Me Now? is ultimately a deeply collaborative record. Each member of Sakai contributed ideas, textures, arrangements, and personality to the songs, allowing the material to evolve significantly from its original form. The result is a debut that feels less like the introduction of a single artist and more like the emergence of a fully formed collective voice.
After spending the past year performing across the United States and steadily building their audience, Sakai are now ready to introduce Do You Like Me Now? to a wider audience. With its combination of emotionally honest songwriting, intricate musicianship, soulful performances, and distinctive cultural influences, the EP establishes Sakai as an exciting new presence in the indie rock and soul landscape.
Do You Like Me Now? is ultimately about the complicated desire to be understood, accepted, and loved while still trying to understand who you are. Sakai approach those questions without easy answers, turning vulnerability into something expressive, dynamic, and deeply human.
About Sakai
Sakai is an Alt Rock / Indie Soul project formed in San Francisco in 2025. The band blends emotionally direct songwriting with genre-spanning arrangements, drawing from indie rock, soul, jazz, funk, blues, and traditional Japanese music. At the core of Sakai’s work is songwriting as catharsis; music shaped by emotional truth, exploring themes of loss, yearning, identity, and self-perception. For fans of Florence + The Machine, Amy Winehouse, Hozier, and Radiohead, Sakai’s debut EP marks the emergence of a band equally grounded in vulnerability and sonic ambition.
