INDEX
The Counter Spirit Hidden in the Unexpected Guest Selection
Many guests with close ties to the project, such as Kakuto Mami, Matsumaru Ki, and Teshima Aoi, have participated in this project.
Ezaki: For example, when I worked with Aoi Teshima on a commercial project a while back, I thought she had a wonderful voice. Of course, I was a big fan of hers even before that, so I wrote the song “Kyou no Sora ni Maru Tsuki” (Today’s Sky is a Round Moon), hoping that Teshima-san would sing one of the songs on this album. I thought it would be fun to work with Sweet William, who participated in the track making for “Mail,” and Kenji Kihara and mei ehara, who participated in “Asahi no Warmth,” and I thought, “It would be fun to make something together. I thought it would be interesting if we made something together,” so I asked them to work with me more like a collaborative effort.
The same goes for Qi Matsumaru. I knew that he was a great saxophone player, so I imagined what it would be like if he played the saxophone, and we started by creating a track that would be the base of the music. The same goes for Mr. Kakudo.
Ezaki: One thing that was important to me this time was that I didn’t work with people I work with on a daily basis. I have worked in a variety of scenes, so it might have been possible to invite people with whom I already have a close relationship, but this time I wanted to counter that and express what I have not shown in those scenes, so I asked mainly people who I thought would be a good match. So I asked mainly people I thought would be a good match for that.
I see. I did think that the choice of people was somewhat unexpected.
Ezaki: That’s right. For example, when someone releases a solo album, you can imagine the lineup, but this time I didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of that.
By the way, what’s the origin of the name of the song “Hugage,” in which Kakudo participated?
Ezaki: I borrowed it from the name of an astronomer named Hoei Nojiri. Actually, I was working with Shito-san, a wonderful “storyteller” and “rapper” who I was very happy to work with on this project, but it was a little difficult to give form to this “Hajimari no Yoru”. But in the process, there were many words that Shito spun for me. The title of the song, including the others, was inspired by Mr. Shito. The titles of the songs, including the others, were greatly influenced by Shito-san. I would be happy if we could work together again somewhere.
I feel that this album is strongly influenced by “lullabies” and “nursery rhymes,” as is the case with “Hoei” and “Kyou no Sora ni Maru Tsuki” for which the picture book author Ryoji Arai wrote the lyrics.
Ezaki: When I was in a junior orchestra, I once accompanied a Japanese shoka medley. It was titled “The Four Seasons of My Homeland,” and included a variety of shoka and folk songs, so it was an original experience for me. Besides, it was a kind of “return to the classics. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, Tanizaki moved from Tokyo to Kyoto, and it seems that his return to the classics in In Praise of Shadows was also out of a sense of concern for Tokyo, which had lost some of its “Edo spirit” due to the earthquake. In order for me to return to the classics in the same way as Tanizaki, I had to include children’s songs and lullabies as the mainstay of my work.
