A new challenge for San-El! ─ ─ New album including "Glorious Days" ED of "Gintama°" is now available!

THREE LIGHTS DOWN KINGS (Sun-El), who sang the third cool ED "Glorious Days" for "Gintama°", will release their new album "ROCK TO THE FUTURE". 2015 saw the release of two anime tie-in songs for "Durarara! ×x2 承" and "Gintama °", and made their name known to anime fans. It was a turbulent year for the band as well. We asked vocalist Glielmo Ko-ichi and bassist June M to talk passionately about everything from the secret story behind the production of "Glorious Days" to what to listen to on the album "ROCK TO THE FUTURE!

The ED video is so good that you'll think, "Are you sure? The ED video was so cool that I thought, "Is it OK?

─ ─ The release date of the single "Glorious Days" was December 2, 2015, which coincided perfectly with the start of the "Gintama °" Shogun Assassination Arc.

Glielmo Ko-ichi (Ko-ichi) I was happy about this link. Glorious Days" is a song about Gin-san (Gintoki Sakata) and Takasugi (Shinsuke) in the past and present, so I think that it led the flow of the story from the start of the airing in October to the Shogun Assassination Arc.

─ How did "Glorious Days" come about?

Ko-ichi It was a song I had written before, and it originally had different lyrics on it. The staff of "Gintama°" liked the melody and performance, and decided to adopt it. I immediately reread the Shogun Assassination Arc and wrote down the lines that stuck in my mind, and then wrote the lyrics on top of that.

Ko-ichi: The lyrics, which were very close to the story, were well received by "Gintama°" fans.

Ko-ichi: I think the charm of "Gintama°" is the gap between seriousness and comedy. Even though Gin-san does stupid things in his daily life, when he has to do something, he is very cool as a man. I think he is cool as a man.

JUNE M Not only Gin-san, but all the characters stand out and are interesting.

Ko-ichi At the core of "Gintama°" is a pure and passionate heart, and that's what I can relate to the most. When I was writing the lyrics to "Glorious Days", and I could link my feelings to the bonds between the characters and the conflicts of Gin-san and the others, I realized once again that "Gintama°" is amazing.

───And the ending image fit the lyrics perfectly.

Ko-ichi: It was so cool that we were like, "Are you sure? (laughs).

JUNE M We all watched the first on-air episode (episode 292) together, and it was very moving. That episode was a comedy episode, so I wondered how the serious "Glorious Days" would turn out, but they took it to a great place.

Ko-ichi I will never forget the shock I felt at that time. We wanted to be a band like "Gintama°". When they talk, they sound like idiots, but when they play music, they are cool (laughs). (laugh) I would like to develop that kind of dynamic.

ROCK TO THE FUTURE" was created with a completely different feeling than before

─ And now, your new album "ROCK TO THE FUTURE," which includes "Glorious Days," is about to be released.

Ko-ichi: "Glorious Days" was a new challenge for us. We used to use auto-tune (vocal effects) in our previous songs, but for "Glorious Days" we did away with it and gave it more of a live band feel. Based on that, we decided to go even further with "ROCK TO THE FUTURE," and it became an album filled with further challenges for the band.

─ ─ The first part of the album has a particularly strong raw band feel.

Ko-ichi The second track "Glorious Days" and the third track "Futuremaker". Here, the sound is more guitar-rock-ish, and I didn't use auto-tune. However, there are songs like the sixth track, "Nova," which has a strong electro feel with lots of auto-tune, just like our original songs, and I think the whole album has a good flow. The song starts with a guitar-rock fast pace, leads to an uplifting electro feeling, and ends with a ballad.

JUNE M The ninth song, "omoino katachi" is a ballad, and it is the first time we have done a song like this.

─ ─ "Omoino Katachi" doesn't use any English, which is a new frontier for you in terms of lyrics.

Ko-ichi This was my first attempt at lyrics with no English at all, including during my indie days. Two years after our major label debut, the members were able to unite and find our true selves in "ROCK TO THE FUTURE. It was a fresh start, or rather, a completely different feeling from our previous albums, so I am really looking forward to hearing everyone's reactions after the release of this album.

JUNE M The recording environment was different from before, and you were more particular about the sound.

Ko-ichi The title of this album is "ROCK TO THE FUTURE" because it is filled with our belief that we want to keep evolving.

─ ─ The title of the album is a straightforward statement of intent. There are different listening points, such as the live band feeling in the beginning and the electro feeling in the middle, but I thought the last part of the album, including "Omoino Katachi", was also a new San-El.

Ko-ichi The seventh song "-Mirai-" is an instrumental, and the atmosphere changes from here to the latter half of the song. It leads to the last song "This is...", and I think the last part of the song is also fascinating.

─ "This is..." is a song with a strong message of overcoming anxiety and moving toward the future.

Ko-ichi "This is..." was one of the earliest songs in the album, and I was conflicted about it at the time. I was anxious about the new worldview of the band that we had created with "Glorious Days," but I also wanted to pursue the possibilities. The song ends with the lyric, "Hope, anxiety, anger, sorrow, the end turns into the beginning," and that is exactly how I felt.

─ ─ I guess that behind every new challenge, there is a conflict .......

Ko-ichi Of course there was. This is..." is a song about repeatedly asking oneself questions and finding hope, and it became a sad and deep song. The lyrics are also heartbreaking, so I hope more people will feel something from this song.

JUNE M. Because it is such a song, I knew from the moment it was finished that it was the last song on the album.

Ko-ichi: It was easier to write the other songs because these emotionally charged songs were in the beginning. We were able to create aggressive songs like "Futuremaker," gentle songs like "Omoino Katachi," and pop songs like "Step by Days," the fourth track, because of "This is...".

─ I felt that the album is well-balanced and has a good flow. And you included "NEVER SAY NEVER (u-ya Remix)" as a bonus track, didn't you? It was the ED of "Durarara! ×2 承" is a remix of "NEVER SAY NEVER," which was the ED of "Durarara!

JUNE M The use of sound is delicate, and there are some interesting ideas in the remix, which is typical of u-ya.

Ko-ichi I think it's a really good remix. Our new worldview comes out in this remix, and the fact that the members remixed it is also a key point. I think this album is filled with the breadth of SANEL's musicality and artistic side.