Es VOL.39 10th album“Terminus”解说(first half)

●○ From music freak Es Vol.39

GARNET CROW
10th Album *Terminus* Liner Notes
Written by Sai Saita

On first listen, I thought, “This is incredible!” It is a masterpiece. Perhaps even their greatest masterpiece. Once that thought occurred to me, though, I felt a twinge of doubt. After all, a greatest masterpiece cannot be created so easily. A supreme work worthy of that name must be completed only when an artist pours in their entire body and soul, wearing themselves down to make it.
And yet, this album has that atmosphere. There is a sudden strength, as though it were concealing something, and a presence with an almost magical power that draws you in more deeply with every listen… To put it another way, it is like THE BEATLES’ *ABBEY ROAD*, or Southern All Stars’ *Killer Street* (Hey, hey, that would mean it was all over!). It is a work whose finished form conveys that much force and artistry. That is *Terminus*.
GARNET CROW’s tenth original full album, *Terminus*. The title calls to mind a European railway station. It is a terminal station, but also a departure station. It is a place where various dramas intersect before people set off, and a base of memories connecting the past, present, and future.
The songs departing from and arriving at that “station” number ten in all. For a tenth original album to contain ten songs is both refreshingly decisive and suggestive. For listeners of the album era with a nostalgic bent, it also evokes memories of records with Side A and Side B, reviving a sense of nostalgia all by itself.
The first surprise is that among the songs, only “Nostalgia” had already been released as a single. Everything else consists of new songs making their first appearance on this album (were they written specifically for it?). This shows how firmly the group focused on the album’s overall quality. And, as though supporting that very premise, the work has indeed turned out to be highly artistic.
The album opens with the dramatic “Nostalgia,” continues through the quietly melancholy “trade,” the noble “Maizy,” the “White Sky” that conceals passion within its calm, and “Life goes on!,” which recalls their earliest days. It then turns toward the Latin passion of “P.S GIRL,” followed by the masterpiece “Umi wo Yuku Shishi,” where GARNET CROW’s exquisite artistry is fully on display, the melancholic “Yume wo Mita Kagami,” the wabi-sabi-infused “The Someone’s Tale,” and finally “closer,” which can be called a quiet peace. It is a condensed expression of their musical worldview, a collection that you find yourself listening to all the way through in one sitting—or rather, being made to listen.
Turn your attention to the album jacket. In the background are garnet-colored velvet curtains and feathers that call to mind a theater; at the center, the four members stand with sudden, enigmatic expressions, dignified in evening dress. This refined style too is uniquely GARNET CROW, reflecting the fated inevitability that it had to be these four people and no others.
Yuri Nakamura handles vocals and composition. Her sensual voice, which sings from alto to soprano, and her sublime melodies are joined by AZUKI Nana, who writes the lyrics and fully depicts the world of Nakamura’s songs with phrases that are even more philosophical and artistic. Hirohito Furui, responsible for the arrangements, moves back and forth across the boundary between digital and analog while introducing his own AOR-like worldview on this album to build a mature sound. And this combination is completed by Hitoshi Okamoto’s guitar sound, restrained yet resonating with an absolute presence, adding color amid the shadows of the monochrome songs! Once you finish listening to this album, you will surely feel again, along with a moving afterglow, just how much GARNET CROW is a highly artistic group of craftspeople, and how original a group these four alone can create. This is their monument, dedicated to every music fan. I hope you will listen to it closely.

■*Terminus* Song Commentary

01. Nostalgia
A single released on September 26, 2012, and their 34th single. GARNET CROW has recently begun introducing bold digital sounds, and this number opens with Nakamura’s voice, carrying a firm resonance as it is led by Furui’s synth intro, which conveys that new style. It creates a dazzling impression, as though the stage were beginning suddenly at its climax. Both longtime fans and newer clouds will accept this powerful declaration with cries of delight: “This is it—this is the one!”
This is a gorgeous number that communicates GARNET CROW’s present and continued vitality without ending at mere nostalgia: this melody with this singing voice, ambivalent lyrics, and glittering sound.

02. trade
The second track changes direction completely, moving from a pastoral intro with floating synths into a GARNET-style rhythmic number, with the colors of Okamoto’s crisp guitar cutting sounding pleasantly clear. The indescribable sense of desolation in this kind of minor-key melody is itself an image created by this groove. The lyrics by AZUKI Nana, in which one can glimpse a love that takes on sorrow behind an apparently dismissive affection, invite you to read them again and again until you reach their depths. The precision of Furui’s arrangement is also superb, especially the luxurious brass and strings in the latter half of the song.