GARNET CROW, who have released work energetically this year with four singles, including the three consecutive monthly single releases “夢・花火,” “今宵エデンの片隅で,” and “まぼろし” from July onward, released their new album “THE TWILIGHT VALLEY” on October 4. Their first original album in about two years condenses the sound world of a group that, after celebrating the fifth anniversary of their debut last year, is moving into a new field. Its mysterious lyrics and varied sounds should stir the listener’s imagination more than ever and project distinctive scenes into the mind. This time, we interviewed all the members and approached the appeal of this work. (INTERVIEWED BY EMI MORI)
—This is your first original album in two years. Around when did you begin preparing for its production?
Yuri Nakamura:Last year was the fifth anniversary of our debut, so we released a best album, a DVD, and a photo book, and we were working on editing commemorative works. Alongside that, we were recording new music, so that may have been the preparation period. In that sense, it is an album with a long production period. We chose from many songs, from songs made last year to very recent ones, so I think it became a work where the good things were extracted.
—This time there are many single songs included too. When putting it together as an album, did you think about the balance with the album tracks?
Yuri Nakamura:It wasn’t that we were especially careful about it; we gathered only songs that clicked. Around the period from “籟・来・也” to “夢・花火,” there was talk of releasing an album around the autumn of this year, but before that we had been producing songs one by one, so we didn’t have a concrete vision for the album. Around June this year, when we made “Anywhere,” I feel the image of the album came into being. As for the song order, from the beginning we had decided that “Anywhere” would be the first track and “WEEKEND” would be the last, and then it felt like we chose the rest in order.
—What part of “Anywhere” made you feel it could become the axis of the album?
Yuri Nakamura:I thought it was a song where our worldview, depth, and subtle nuances, things that cannot be expressed through singles, appeared strongly. The A-melody is quiet, the B-melody becomes sharp, and the chorus opens up. I feel that our elements are concentrated in this one song. This song pulls the other songs along, or rather, the album stands because of it... So we placed “Anywhere” first, inviting the listeners into our world, and after they finish listening to “WEEKEND” at the end, they return to the real world.
—How was the album title “THE TWILIGHT VALLEY” decided?
Yuri Nakamura:“Twilight” is the moment when the sun sets and it becomes night, and at that time shadows are at their darkest and longest. It is neither day nor night, neither shadow nor light, a gray area, and I felt that linked to the depth of the world of music we create. The twilight time is only a moment, but it is very beautiful. In our music, we sing rock, ballads, and pop things, but whether it is melody, PV, or jacket, we have always made works with the desire for them to be beautiful. So I thought the twilight time matched the worldview of our music. The time when night turns into morning also has a unique atmosphere, doesn’t it? It is not as if everything is asleep, and the moment when the city begins to move feels packed full of energy. In this album, we made each song with that kind of energy inside it, so I think that also connects to the image of twilight.
—With this work, I also felt that the existence called GARNET CROW became clearer.
Yuri Nakamura:We make albums in order to turn into one world the parts that cannot be expressed through singles alone, so in that sense, I think an album is where people can understand our musical world best. The songs included this time are varied, so there are catchy songs and sharp songs that pursue our own sound, and I think it became a balanced work. I feel listeners will be able to listen through to the end without losing concentration. We ourselves feel that this album contains many songs where you can see pictures when you listen. Of course, we didn’t intend that, but these songs were selected from songs made over the two years since the previous original album, so perhaps each song’s individuality is that different. In that sense, for people hearing our songs for the first time, it may be easy to understand, or easy to enter the musical world of GARNET CROW. I think it became an album where people can listen to the songs, read the lyrics, look at the jacket and PV, and use all five senses to feel our world.
—Do you have a sense that your works so far connect to this album?
Yuri Nakamura:Because we had the accumulation of the past five years, I think our creative desire continues now without being cut off, and releasing the best album may have been a big thing. By releasing the best album, we were able to reconfirm that our past works still hold up fully now, and that the music we had made up to that point was not wrong. I think that became new confidence and connected to the feeling of “let’s write even better songs.” Of course, we had always had the desire to write good songs, but because the best album gave us an opportunity to look back on the past, I think it made the feeling of “we want to make something even better!” grow stronger.
—Were there songs that were difficult to make, or songs that left a strong impression?
Yuri Nakamura:The song that was hard to sing was “Anywhere.” The one that surprised me because of the gap from my own image was “かくれんぼ,” and “春待つ花のように” reminds me of last year’s premium live. “籟・来・也” became our first image song for a documentary program, and we were also allowed to make the soundtrack. At that time, making an a cappella version by putting in chorus with only my own voice was fresh, and it is a song that left a deep impression because I learned how to make music that matched images.
—Then please each choose three favorite songs from this album.
AZUKI Nana: “向日葵の色,” “春待つ花のように,” and “WEEKEND.” I chose “向日葵の色” simply because it is the type of song I like. This melody feels less like the GARNET CROW sound and more strongly like a Yurippe (Nakamura) song. I chose “春待つ花のように” because we performed it at last year’s premium live, and now it is finally being released on CD for people to hear. “WEEKEND” was fresh because, unlike before, the melody didn’t feel like something a woman would make; it had a masculine melody.
Yuri Nakamura:“Anywhere,” “Yellow Moon,” and “かくれんぼ.” With “Anywhere,” I didn’t think it would become this difficult at the demo stage, but when I sang it, it was difficult, and recording the vocal took time. But in the end I was able to sing it through properly and gained confidence. It also left an impression because when “Anywhere” was finished, it was such an impactful song that the image of the album solidified. “Yellow Moon” starts with the chorus, and I like that it is catchy and stays in the ear. It had also been a while since I sang a song in 6/8, so it felt fresh in that sense too. “かくれんぼ” shocked me when I read the lyrics. I had never sung lyrics where Japanese words stood out this much... I never imagined that, as a vocalist, I would sing the word “torii” on top of a melody. Singing words like “keidai” and “oni,” words that evoke Japanese scenery, on a melody I had made felt very strange. More than “夢・花火,” I had the sense that I was singing something rooted in Japan. “かくれんぼ” is a song I made the year before last, but I still cannot forget the shock of singing it for the first time.
Hirohito Furui: “夢・花火,” “もうちょっとサガシテみましょう,” and “籟・来・也.” In terms of sound, “夢・花火” is packed with ideas for me, or rather, it has many technical elements built into it. It begins from the verse, and I made it with attention to the speed of the rhythm and how to value the groove. In the solo part, I added flute sounds, and at the end I thought carefully about what instrument sound to put in. Because I refined the song with attention to those things, I feel attached to it. When I heard the demo tape of “もうちょっとサガシテみましょう,” the chorus was pop and stayed in my ear. So I emphasized the part where the chorus piles on, and made the whole song feel energetic. It is also a song where I combined various drum sounds. “籟・来・也” is a type of song GARNET CROW had never had before, and personally, I don’t think I had ever made something this bold in my life. When I first heard the melody, I felt a unique world, so I began making it with the idea that it would be good to have this kind of song on the album. Through fate, it became a single. Among the songs where I valued the impression of the demo and expanded it, this is a song where I felt the response of “we can do something like this too,” so I chose it.
Hitoshi Okamoto:For me, it’s “まぼろし,” “今宵エデンの片隅で,” and “晴れ時計.” I was happy about “まぼろし” because it was GARNET CROW’s first drama tie-up song. When the tie-up was decided, I didn’t know what kind of drama it was, so in the studio we imagined all kinds of things, like maybe it was this kind of drama (laughs). Musically, the guitar was difficult, but it was also the part that governs the beginning of the song, so I’m glad I was able to do it properly. “今宵エデンの片隅で” seems like a straightforward rock song and is easy to listen to, but it is a song where strong individualities collide. Also, at the pinpoint part “世界がスパーク,” the sound flies off with delay, and the way it fits there is the best! “晴れ時計” reminds me of the PV shoot. We shot it in a broad grassy area, and I strongly remember crows pecking at the catering sweets. They had prepared lots of sweets for us, but the crows ate a little bit of everything, so we couldn’t eat them... (laughs). I remember that when I look at the jacket for this song. “晴れ時計” and “春待つ花のように” remind me of performing them at the premium live. The building for the premium live was distinctive and lovely, and among the audience there were both people seeing a GARNET CROW live for the first time and people who had seen us several times, so it was a mysterious space.
—Finally, please give readers a comment about this album.
AZUKI Nana: Since it is our first original album in two years, it has become a work with plenty to listen to, containing not only single songs but many album tracks as well.
Yuri Nakamura:I think it is an album packed with a lot of the current GARNET CROW. I think our current worldview appears in it realistically, so I would be happy if people could feel in this album the deeper parts that could not be expressed through singles.
Hirohito Furui: I think it is an album where we were able to take many different approaches.
Hitoshi Okamoto:This time we made it using various instruments, so in that sense too, I think it became a work we tackled ambitiously.