Natalie PowerPush - GARNET CROW
Discussing the much-talked-about popular anime OP theme
From GARNET CROW, who say they have been energetically immersing themselves in production day after day, comes their 33rd new single, "Misty Mystery," a cool adornment for the end of summer.
Now on air as the opening theme for the anime *Detective Conan*, this work is finished as a mysterious and powerful dance-rock number that makes full use of digital sound. While hooks unmistakably GARNET CROW-like are scattered throughout, listeners should also be able to feel a vivid, bursting new soundscape.
We asked vocalist Yuri Nakamura and guitarist Hitoshi Okamoto about episodes from its creation.
Interview & text / Hideyuki Mori
The Presence of Nakamura's Voice Gives Us a Free Range to Move
——It's being released only two months after the previous work.
Nakamura:It is fast (laughs). Right now, we've shifted into a mode where we want to keep taking on songs with all kinds of variation and leave them behind as works. I wrote this song in that atmosphere.
——"Misty Mystery" is a song with digital sound pushed right to the front. It surprised me, like, "Whoa!"
Nakamura:Yes. I think we made it while consciously aiming for that. When the first arrangement came in, it had more of a medium-tempo, mellow feel. That would not have been strange in itself, but this time I had a vision that I really wanted to sing a bass-heavy digital rock song, so I asked him to change the arrangement in that direction.
——So you threw it back to Hirohito Furui, who handles the arrangement.
Nakamura:Right, right. I threw it back (laughs). Then Furui seemed to get fired up too, and this version came back even more full-throttle than the image I had.
——In the end, a stronger ball than you imagined came back.
Nakamura:The part where the intro starts running, and the feeling of the low end, became a cool sound with a lot of momentum and strength pushed to the front, so I thought this was really good.
——Yes. I think it turned out incredibly cool.
Nakamura:Though if you listen only to the intro, you might not know whose song it is (laughs).
Okamoto:When I first heard it, it was shocking enough that I thought, "Whose song is this?" "Did we put in the wrong CD?" But when the vocal comes in, you think, "Oh, it's GARNET CROW." I imagine fans will probably react the same way I did. I think we made a song that really betrays expectations, in a good way.
——It makes sense that once Nakamura's voice enters, it suddenly becomes GARNET CROW-like. Is that also why you can play so boldly with the sound?
Okamoto:Exactly. What gives us that free range is the presence of Nakamura's voice. No matter how far we try to move away from GARNET CROW with the sound, once the voice comes in, it snaps into being GARNET CROW. The power of a voice is amazing.
——Nakamura, how do you feel about that?
Nakamura:I don't really have much awareness of my voice or singing in that way. More than that, with this song, for example, I feel the GARNET CROW-ness in things like the fun of the rhyming lyrics and keywords with a fantastical image. The song is a digital rock track with a strong impression, but if you listen closely, there is also gut-string guitar and those slightly soft, ennui-tinged parts, so I wonder if our own flavor comes through there. That is also one of the twisted parts of GARNET CROW.
Okamoto:It is true that when we have this very digital kind of sound, we tend to use acoustic guitar or gut-string guitar quite a bit. Conversely, in this kind of song, we definitely do not make the electric guitar squeal away. That also feels very GARNET CROW.
Nakamura:When those tones are added, there is a feeling that it becomes beautiful. It is not just an ordinary digital-rock dance number; extra elements like beauty and sensuality come into it. With a different group, those elements might turn into progressive rock (laughs).
It's a Shame I Can't Dance
——What kind of feeling did you bring to recording the vocal this time?
Nakamura:Because the sound has such strong pull, I made sure I could express a strength with my voice that would not lose to it. I had to keep the tension taut the whole time, so that part was tough. The chorus keeps pressing forward too, so it was a little hard. That said, this kind of song is rare for us, so I sang it with a very fresh feeling and enjoyed it. All while thinking, "It's a shame I can't dance." Ahahaha (laughs).
——Sound-wise, it does seem like dance would suit it. Did you try going in that direction?
Nakamura:Well, dancing is the one thing (laughs). Ideally, I do think dancing with a headset mic on would suit it. I did picture myself that way when I was recording the vocal (laughs).
Okamoto:This time the arrangement is mainly programmed, so if she tries dancing, the other members have enough room to watch her (laughs).
Nakamura:Ahahahaha (laughs).
——I would like the instrumental team to dance too.
Okamoto:What? The instrumental side can't do that! Absolutely impossible.
Nakamura:They even get steps wrong pretty often.
Okamoto:...Ah.
Nakamura:Even the box step is questionable. We tell them to start from the right, and they start from the left and get completely out of sync. Including me, everyone is at that level (laughs).
Okamoto:But even if we do not dance, I am looking forward to seeing what this song will feel like live.
August 29, 2011
Natalie PowerPush - GARNET CROW
Discussing the much-talked-about popular anime OP theme
I Sing the Lyrics Exactly as They Come In
——Did AZUKI have anything to say about the lyrics?
Nakamura:This time, the feeling of the melody in the chorus, where it keeps pressing forward, seems to have left a particularly strong impression on her, and she said she wrote from the chorus for the first time in a while.
——Lines like "Sorrow is a natural phenomenon / Peace is only an impression" are lyrics that make you catch your breath a little. They also have depth.
Nakamura:They have a sense of thrill, and a strong feeling.
Okamoto:I do not have much reading comprehension, so I often think, "I don't really get it" (laughs), but as phrases, there are a lot of things that make you catch your breath. Or rather, there is something like that every time. They can also be taken in many different ways.
——You said that with the arrangement this time, you once threw it back to Furui. Does that kind of thing happen with lyrics too?
Nakamura:Not with lyrics. I sing them as they are. Lyrics are something that ride on the melody, so I feel that putting in something that comes from somewhere other than myself makes the song more interesting.
——When you are writing the song, do you have an image of the lyrics in mind?
Nakamura:Almost none. I sing the temporary vocal in nonsense English. Once in a while, the nonsense English I used remains in the final lyrics, but a lot of the time the lyrics that come in are not what I imagined at all. The melody might be Western in feel, but the lyrics are extremely Japanese. Because things like that happen, it is more interesting to leave them as they are.
——That is the trust unique to GARNET CROW, with its complete division of labor.
Nakamura:I think so, yes.
Is It Okay for It to Be This Refreshing?
——The coupling track includes a song called "live."
Nakamura:This is a song that carries on the flow from the previous work, "Smiley Nation." I wrote it thinking it would be nice to have a song everyone could sing together happily and feel a sense of unity with. Sound-wise, I can picture how it will be live, and when I was actually recording it, I sang while keeping that scene in mind. It is one of the songs I want to try live soon.
——The guitar in the intro is already refreshing right from the start.
Okamoto:With this one too, for a moment I thought, "Is it okay for it to be this refreshing?" "It's awfully pop, but is it all right!?" But once the vocal came in, I thought, "Oh, it is all right after all" (laughs).
——The same pattern as "Misty Mystery" (laughs).
Okamoto:It felt good to play. It is a slightly fast shuffle, and I played it feeling good and fresh... feeling like I had become a little younger.
Nakamura:In the lyrics, there is a phrase about various feelings "becoming 'sound,' becoming 'song,'" and I think that is exactly the kind of part that will shine live.
——The lyrics feel the end of summer, then end by thinking of the next summer, so they fit the release timing perfectly.
Nakamura:Yes. In reality, I do not go outside much in summer, though.
——Ah, that is the impression GARNET CROW gives. Forgive me for saying so.
Nakamura:Ahahaha (laughs). I usually think afterward, "Was this year a scorching summer?" We are mostly in the studio during the day. To begin with, it does not suit us, does it? That summer atmosphere.
——But that is also why songs like this are born. I would like the four members to try something like a barbecue on the beach, though.
Okamoto:We definitely would not. No one would move (laughs).
Nakamura:Right. Everyone would just keep waiting. Waiting for someone to grill the meat.
Okamoto:And in the end, because no one moves, I guess it would become, "Let's go to a yakiniku restaurant."
Nakamura:Exactly as imagined (laughs).
"I can't take..." With "Last love song" in Mind
——On this single, if you get the regular edition, you can also hear one more song, "I can't take..." This is a number that could be called classic GARNET CROW.
Nakamura:There is a song from our early days called "Last love song," and we tried making this with a melody and arrangement that evoke that time. When Furui heard the demo, he seemed to feel something a little nostalgic. So the way the song ends also has a similar feel to "Last love song." Longtime fans may be able to listen while letting those parts overlap a little.
Okamoto:This song also has the meaning of saying sorry for surprising everyone too much with "Misty Mystery" and "live." Or rather, they can listen to this one with peace of mind.
Nakamura:But the first guitar phrase might surprise people because it sounds like THE BEATLES (laughs).
——This song also has an impactful intro.
Nakamura:It is the pull of the intro. Also, at first this song was a version that began with the chorus, but we realized it was long and cut it before mixing. That is how this intro was made. In terms of having more English in the lyrics, it is a slightly unusual type of song, so even though it follows our early classic style, this one also felt fresh and interesting to sing.
Okamoto:I think GARNET CROW has fortunately been able to continue for such a long time because we can enjoy making songs in such a wide range of ways. That is precisely why we do not get tired of what we are doing. I feel this single has become one that lets people sense that even more.
Nakamura:The official Natalie app "My Natalie" is now available for free!