INDEX
The Excitement of the Guitar’s Instant Response to Shifting Lyrics
-The title track “On the Shore” is an exceptional song. This four-on-the-floor approach is quite rare for Odottebakarinokuni.
Shimotsu: It might be a first for us—this urban-style beat.
-I think the song was originally intended as an acoustic solo. What led to this approach?
Shimotsu: We wrote this song when we were at a festival in Niigata, and it was winter at a seaside location. It wasn’t a sunny, Californian beach but rather had a darker, heavier atmosphere, almost as if people’s lives were absorbed into the setting. The feeling of that sea influenced the chord progression, which led to this balanced, neither dark nor bright approach. I don’t think it was my idea to go with a four-on-the-floor beat. Taiki usually suggests these kinds of ideas during our sessions, and we built on them from there.
Sakamoto: For “Bīdama” and others, I wanted to capture a groove or texture that feels subdued and cold, almost raw, through the rhythm. With “On the Shore,” it’s definitely in line with the vibe of house music or something similar.
Shimotsu: If you make this track too light, it can easily turn into a very lightweight song, so I made sure to maintain its heavy nuance. I paid attention to using effects that matched the chord sounds, like making the delay feel more enveloping. Balancing it so it didn’t become too upbeat or lose its danceability was quite challenging. I had to re-record the vocals a lot; it’s the part I struggle with the most! [Laughs]
-It’s the difficulty of finding that middle ground, neither pushing it too hard nor holding it back too much.
Shimotsu: It’s a choice between going for Whoopi Goldberg or Lou Reed, but since I need to be a big brother in Tokyo, that was the challenge.
-You really capture that cool yet kind big brother vibe from Tokyo. The guitar work, with its heavy use of dissonance, ultimately lands on a pop note, which is fantastic.
Shimotsu: There’s a memorable guitar refrain that I think might be influenced by “Shiranamikaze” from Shiranamikaze no Shirabe. The way the guitar quickly responds to the changing lyrics is one of the interesting aspects of Odottebakari no Kuni’s music. Moments like that make me think of the “Kita!” posts on 2channel in my head [laughs].
