Thanks received by this post:
Message reputation : 100% (7 votes)
SCANDAL releases their new song "SPICE"
「It's practically a miracle how we're able to identify with and understand each other」
SCANDAL's new song "SPICE" is the theme song for the original animated short XPICE produced by mixi's XFLAG, known for works such as the mobile game Monster Strike. Featuring an extremely powerful band sound, the music was written by guitarist MAMI and lyrics by drummer RINA.
RINA: The anime team for XPICE has been listening to SCANDAL songs for a long time now, so they presented us with this offer. They showed us a rough cut of the short, and we also got to participate in meetings where the concept of the work and specifics for the music were discussed. We really sympathized with how the two main heroes were both unsatisfied with their own abilities, continuing to fight while harboring complexes about themselves, and how, despite being heroes, they're not invincible. I based the lyrics on that theme.
MAMI: The team has a desire to spread Japanese animation technology to the world. We perform shows overseas, so we sympathized with that attitude. They liked the melody to "A.M.D.K.J.", a song off our album Kiss from the darkness, and requested one like that, so I made it while making subtractions I had never before challenged myself to doing, and while also valuing a powerful melody and band-feel. Also, we also challenged ourselves to put effects over HARUNA's vocals and played around with not having instrumentals in some parts.
The themes of XPICE are "courage and understanding," as well as "fighting together." They are also applicable to SCANDAL's journey in regards to sharing the common link of being in a band, and continuing to create works without stopping.
RINA: The band scene still continues to be a male-dominated one, and how to survive by expressing ourselves in our own way is also one our themes. We were able to sympathize with the fact that the characters in the anime continued to try on their own, and to connect to something like diversity as a bigger theme. This is an era in which the number of people who are knowledgeable about many things is growing and that comprehension is spreading, but I feel that there are still more details that are needed to know. It gave us an opportunity to think about gender, race, and the way each person lives their life. I dared to write very straightforward lyrics this time, but I don't think that would have been possible without the anime offer. After that is when COVID-19 got worse, and it made me feel more strongly that I want to keep making songs that are universal and straightforward.
The line "The tears that spill as you think of someone are the best spice" in the chorus is especially refreshing.
RINA: One of the issues with Kiss from the darkness was that we thought it'd be good if we could properly express our weaknesses through music, as well as express negative phrases. However, it feels like with "SPICE," which was done after our album, is very much connected to it. As our career and ages have advanced, we're starting to feel a sense of discomfort with music that can only be completed while on stage. We thought that we needed a song that lets us go on stage without changing our mentality.
Kiss from the darkness is the first album written after establishing their private label "her." What kind of influence did their experience of showing their frank selves have?
MAMI: What made us the most happy was that people who listened to SCANDAL felt close to us. It's not like we were trying to this until now, but we felt like we had to be strong and had to always be a version of SCANDAL who was always smiling and sunny. This album was one where we thought about how we're living creatures who share the same feelings as everyone else, so that naturally turned into music. There had been a lot of fans who listened to us in preparation for seeing us perform live, but it was also a really big thing that our music became a little more like everyday background music.
TOMOMI: Challenging ourselves to do an acoustic song on that album was difficult, but I'm happy that it doesn't sound too different from our past songs. Also, our artwork recently hasn't featured us—we've instead been collaborating with our favorite creators—so they accept us very naturally in that sense as well.
Even if words aren't spoken, everyone has respect for each other.
It's been 14 years since their formation. "Courage and understanding" and "fighting together" are also important factors in sustaining the band.
RINA: All four of us have completely different personalities and strengths. We accept each other's good points and weak points and forgive each other. We're the first people who are likely to forgive each other any number of times. That's why we can always be together, and why it's not possible for us to play music if it's not the four of us doing so. To speak in extremes, there are only two options: to continue on as SCANDAL, or to stop being a band altogether. This band has no options for someone to withdraw, nor to have another member join (laughs).
HARUNA: It's a courageous thing to continue on, and I think it's practically a miracle how, while being in a different mode year by year, we are able to identify with and understand each other. Each day we're happy to be able to see each other and our staff. In the midst of recently being limited in what we can do, the four of us thought about what we could do and released 'Living in the city' right away. It's really important to have the courage to deal with many different things.
MAMI: Everyone has respect for each other—we don't need to put it in words. Even if it's a scary thing to release something as an individual artist, the four of us come together to become one individual known as SCANDAL, and when we do so we're filled with a desire to take on new challenges—that holds true because we all have an understanding of that. That's something I've been thinking about in particular recently. As with the launch of "her," we were no longer afraid to take responsibility for the songs and lyrics we make. Ever since we started to write our own songs from scratch, we have naturally become more responsible for our songs.
TOMOMI: I hadn't seen anyone since the pandemic started, and I also hadn't seen the other members in three months. However, I felt that something very important to me was becoming clear. I once again thought of how SCANDAL is the biggest axis for me. Every day I wanted to see the members. Every day I thought about what they were doing, and that I wanted to talk to them. If you think about it, we've been together for about half of our lives so far. But we never get tired of each other (laughs). I wasn't aware of it myself, but I think that courage and understanding sprouted before I knew it. Although it's difficult to continue being a band, it's very easy if you're compatible with each other. I think the most difficult thing is to put together members with good compatibility. That's only because the teachers of the dance school we attended at the time did a good job with selecting the four of us. It's not that difficult for us (laughs).
RINA: We've always been thinking that we can do a little more. It's the same with the results that have been produced, and also with the music we make. We can be come to an agreement depending on the occasion, but I've always wondered that when we're able to do something, that if we can do a little more. As long as that heat remains, I think we can continue doing this. But, after all, I think we're doing a great job to have been an all-girl band for 15 years (laughs).
They will be holding a one-night-only concert via livestream on August 21, the day of the 14th anniversary. They will be reproducing not only their setlist for their tour that was canceled that was supposed to begin in March, but also their outfits, set, videos shown on stage, and lighting.
HARUNA: We do a lot of things on August 21st every year, so we had planned a lot of things. However, we first had to cancel all of the Japan dates on our tour that was supposed to start in March. We were very confident in delivering our album, and we had completely finished dress rehearsals for the tour—all that was left was to go show it to everyone. After all, we really wanted to deliver that live performance to audiences. With the help of our staff, we're able to hold a one-day live performance.
MAMI: You can enjoy an angle that's different from our past livestreams. We're able to put cameras in places we can't put them in when we have a live audience. Everyone is in the front row because it's online, and we can say we have infinite capacity (laughs).
