Jo Passed, the project of multi-artist Jo Hirabayashi, has released new single “Precious Word,” the track is accompanied with self-directed video and off his forthcoming album Away, available January 23rd via Youth Riot Records. The album was inspired by his cognitive behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis sessions: “In session, we focused on analyzing words to understand how internal pressures or narratives are formed. The words we use really shape how we feel, see, and experience the world, and this song is a playful take on that idea,” Hirabayashi explains. “The themes of fabric and clothes are also at play here. In psychoanalysis, clothing can symbolize power, desire, and lack, often relating to concepts like fetishism and the urge to cover or reveal the body. ‘Precious Word’ connects language to clothing, suggesting that forming words and concepts in the mind is similar to how fabrics and clothes relate to the body. On the lighter side of this, we have the realization of beautiful ideas and ideals; the darker side presents as authoritarian orders of the mind over the body.”

Of the video, Hirabayashi adds: “I imagined this song as the soundtrack to a TV show intro, referencing the aesthetic of ‘Bill Nye The Science Guy.’ Since the start of the Jo Passed project, autophotography (selfies) has been a significant visual element, from my first press photo of infinite hair to the burnt face photos of Their Prime on Sub Pop, and now the empty chair of Away. This video is my autophotographic work, combining digital animation with lip sync.”

In other news, Jo Passed today also announced a 2026 West Coast tour, beginning January 22nd in Vancouver and including shows at LA’s Permanent Records, Des Moines’ Treefort Festival, and more. The band will kick off their fall shows in the U.S. and Canada including shows at Toronto’s The Dance Cave on November 8th and including Brooklyn’s Alphaville on November 13th.

Away is the follow-up to Jo Passed’s 2018 Sub Pop debut album Their Prime. “Away is a process record–about processing, about the process of making music, and the process of navigating one’s own psyche,” he notes. Hirabayashi leads on vocals, bass, guitar and keys, along with Mei on additional vocals, drums by Mac Lawrie and Loving’s Justin Devries (who plays on “Precious Word”), strings by Meredith Bates, and woodwinds and saxophones by Andromeda Monk.

“One of the biggest factors was taking space to actually find myself creatively,” says Hirabayashi. “I turned a tough time into creativity and found my way back to myself. Two years later, I’ve got an album I love. Taking that time was worth it, and I hope this record inspires others to be kind to themselves and patient with their own pace.”

Jo Passed 2025-2026 Tour Dates:

11/08/25 – Toronto, ON – The Dance Cave
11/09/25 – Montreal, QB – La Sotterenea
11/13/25 – Brooklyn, NY – Alphaville
11/14/25 – Philadelphia, PA – The Pouch
01/22/26 – Vancouver, BC – The Pearl
01/23/26 – Seattle, WA – Baga Yaga
01/24/26 – Olympia, WA – The Moon Room
01/25/26 – Portland, OR – Swan Dive
01/27/26 – Oakland, CA – Stork Club
01/29/26 – Los Angeles CA – Permanent Records
01/30/26 – Ventura, CA – Vaquero y Mar
02/02/26 – Victoria, BC – Lucky Bar
03/25-29/26 – Treefort Festival

Pre-order Away by Jo Passed HERE