GARNET CROW “Nostalgia” Interview (BARKS)
September 24, 2012BARKSAdded on July 8, 2026
-- This release is titled "Nostalgia," which has a meaning like "homesickness" or "yearning for the past." From the intro I felt an '80s scent, and it truly made me feel nostalgic, just as the title suggests.
Hitoshi Okamoto:Is that the synth sound, maybe?
-- Yes. The tone of the synth.
Hitoshi Okamoto:Right. When you say '80s, that is right in Furui's (Hirohito Furui: arrange, keyboard) strike zone.
Yuri Nakamura:With this release, it was not as though we discussed it and said, "Let's make nostalgia the theme." But from the demo stage, it already had that kind of nostalgic feeling, so I think everyone expanded that image in the sound as well. The synth comes in from the intro, there is a four-on-the-floor digital atmosphere, and there is also a sense of speed. Pushed by that sound, my singing also kept moving forward.
-- Even though it is called "Nostalgia," it is not a song that shuts itself away inside memories.
Yuri Nakamura:Exactly. It is not something that looks back or turns backward. There is a melody with melancholy drifting through it, but the sound itself feels like it is facing forward and sprinting at full speed.
Hitoshi Okamoto:It is definitely forward-looking. There are words and tones that make you associate it with nostalgia, but as a whole it feels like it moves ahead. As for me, I pull back a little while thinking about the overall balance (laughs).
-- It is a sound where the keyboards have a strong presence.
Hitoshi Okamoto:That's true.
Yuri Nakamura:But the guitar solo is a pop-song guitar solo. It is unified with a four-on-the-floor beat, but it is not a guitar part made to match that kind of dance style. When the guitar solo arrives, it is a singing guitar solo suited to a song-oriented piece, and that feels like us. You could call it a weeping guitar. While still holding on to those points, even the rhythm changes along the way into an ordinary eight-beat, and the groove changes too. At first listen, you might think of it as a four-on-the-floor digital song, but if you listen to the individual parts, it has hooks different from that type of song in the usual sense. So I think it is also a song where the more you listen, the more discoveries you make, and that makes it interesting. I hope people listen many times and find those things.
-- You always do that sort of thing so lightly (laughs).
Yuri Nakamura:Furui likes that kind of thing. And among the members, when someone notices, it is like, "You got it? (laughs)" This time, "風の中のオルゴール" is Furui's recommended song and one of his favorites. Even in that song, there is a part in the interlude where it modulates and changes, and when a staff member said, "I like this part," he was really happy. Furui does not often say things like, "Here, I modulated and did this," but if someone notices and says, "That part is like this, right?" he gets very happy (laughs). I suppose that is Furui's own playfulness. Everyone makes the songs while enjoying things in that way.
-- It is a kind of playfulness that people who understand will understand. Finding those things is one of the pleasures of listening to GARNET CROW.
Yuri Nakamura:Yes. In the lyrics too, there are places where we rhyme this time. For example, "Cry" and "位," or "衝動" and "堂々." Since the lyrics are faithful to the melody and sit well on the notes, they also fit well with the four-on-the-floor beat. They ride on the high tones and can move with that momentum.
-- Also, the English part. The "find" in "I'll never find" sounds very pleasant. Ms. Nakamura, your pronunciation is good.
Yuri Nakamura:Oh! (laughs) Thank you. Actually, I used a little trick there. I discovered that pronouncing all the way through the final "d" in "find" makes it sound more native-like, so I sang it again. I sing the "-ind" in "find" clearly.
-- That also lets it sit properly in the rhythm.
Yuri Nakamura:Yes, yes. If you do not sing the ending properly, it can sound like "Fine," but by singing firmly through the "d," it can be heard clearly as "Find." It also becomes easier to sing.
-- Listening to it, those points of care do come across.
Yuri Nakamura:I am glad I was particular about it. It is the chorus, after all.
-- "風の中のオルゴール" is nostalgic too. It also feels like a royal-road GARNET CROW song.
Yuri Nakamura:Yes. Since it is Furui's top recommendation, it has stability.
Hitoshi Okamoto:If anyone hears the first track and thinks, "Was GARNET CROW like this?" the second track is kindly designed to grab them firmly (laughs).
-- "Happy swallow" also feels like something that seems as if it should have existed before, but actually did not.
Yuri Nakamura:I wanted to make a pop killer tune. When we perform a bright song like this live, everyone can sing together and it is fun, so I imagined that kind of scene. It is a song with excitement and joy where you can see future live performances ahead. In the chorus, I played around as much as I liked and had fun recording it. With this song, I wanted the fun and happy feeling to seep out across the whole surface. The three songs all have different colors, so this release lets people see many different sides of us at once, and I am satisfied with it.
-- The music video for "Nostalgia" also has some impressive CG.
Yuri Nakamura:During the shoot it was against a green screen, so I had no idea how it would turn out.
Hitoshi Okamoto:The concept is that we are trapped inside a shelter and escape from there. They told me to make a face like, "Why am I trapped in a place like this?" and that was difficult (laughs).
Yuri Nakamura:There is a scene where I run away, but running with a serious face somehow felt funny and I laughed. But when people say, "Don't laugh!" you end up laughing, don't you? It felt like the laugh switch had been turned on (laughs). Since they were filming with a slow camera, they told me it would be fine if I could hold in my laughter for two seconds, and somehow we managed to get the serious-face scene.
-- That was hard work (laughs).
Yuri Nakamura:Onscreen I really do have a serious face, but right after that I burst out laughing. Because I could not imagine how it would look when finished, I was surprised when I saw the completed version. We shaved ourselves down to shoot it (laughs), so I want people to watch it.
-- At the same time as the single, the DVD of "GARNET CROW livescope 2012 ～the tales of memories～," held in March, will also be released. Watching that should let people get to know GARNET CROW even more.
Yuri Nakamura:It has a lot of content (laughs). The biggest point is that we had a string quartet join us. Because of that, there were songs we challenged ourselves with, so I think the pressure and warmth of the live instruments are different from usual. It was also gorgeous. I hope people enjoy those parts as well.