Midway through our conversation at a dimly lit Shibuya cafe, Meirin Yung offers to break down any song on her recently released album under the name Zombie-Chang. I choose the slacker-inspired "Semete Kanashii Tokiniwa" (loosely translated as "At Least in Sad Times") that served as the advance preview of her second full-length release, "Zombie-Change."
"Ahhh, how did I make that one," she says with a laugh before pulling out an iPhone in a red case, seemingly to listen to an audio file. Actually, she opens the YouTube video for the song, and places the phone close to her ear, trying to jolt her memory. "No idea," she says, before guessing that she probably started with the beat.
"If I have a song and I just keep listening to it, I start thinking I need to modify it in some way," Yung says, explaining both her constructive forgetfulness and the lack of her own music on her smartphone. It's a surprising admission, as Yung's music stands out in part because it doesn't seem bothered with perfection.