From here to the future, nano celebrates its 5th anniversary with the release of "The Crossing," a powerful work of art!

Nano, celebrating their 5th anniversary this year, has released a new album. The title, "The Crossing," is said to reflect the idea of moving beyond the 5th anniversary to the next place. The highlight of the album is the eight new songs written especially for the album. All of the songs were written in English and express Nano's true feelings. In addition to Nano himself, actor Kanata Hongo appears in the music video for the title track, "The Crossing. We asked him to talk about his new work, which is full of topics!

Writing lyrics in English makes it easier to express my true feelings.

─ Your new album "The Crossing" is also the 5th anniversary of your debut. Can you tell us why you named this album "The Crossing"?

Nano: First and foremost, we decided on the album title. The Crossing" means "crossing.
For me, the fifth anniversary is not so much a feeling of having reached this point, but more of a determination to cross over to the next stage. I titled the album "The Crossing" with the thought of crossing the railroad crossing and going to the next place.

──There are 12 songs in total, 8 of which are new songs. All of them are completely in English with lyrics written by you, aren't they?

Nano: I wanted to try writing all the new songs on the album in English. My roots are in English, so I wanted to write and sing in English to expose my true feelings.

─ ─ Do you think it is easier to express your true self in English than in Japanese?

Nano: It is easier to express myself in a frank and personal way in English. Even in everyday conversation, I tend to spill my true feelings when speaking in English (laughs). I don't think that I am not my true self when I use Japanese, but I feel that there is a thin wall between us. For the lyrics of the new songs, I set a theme for each song and went through what I wanted to express myself.

───The liner notes include a bilingual Japanese translation. Who translated these?

Nano: I wrote the lyrics myself, so I wanted to convey my thoughts directly to the audience, so I translated the lyrics into Japanese myself. It is not a direct translation, but more like an intentional translation. I didn't just translate the lyrics, I tried to give them a new meaning by translating them into Japanese. For listeners who can speak both Japanese and English, I think it is twice as delicious.

─ ─ How did the new songs turn out, sound-wise?

Nano: We had the participation of the composers we have been working with for the past five years, and our goal was to create a sound that is one step more mature than before. By reuniting with the creators I tagged along with a few years ago, I feel like I know how I've changed in that time. One of the new people I teamed up with wrote a ballad of a type I had never written before.

─ ─ How did you decide on the order of songs for the album, which is a good mix of anime tie-up songs from singles and new songs?

Nano: We decided to start with the latest single "MY LIBERATION" and end with the title track "The Crossing" at the beginning. The first part of the song introduces the new songs with momentum, and the middle part of the song looks back at the single songs again, followed by a quieter song, and then ends with a spectacularly exciting song. That's the flow of the song.

─ The gorgeous and intense "MY LIBERATION" and the magnificent "The Crossing" are certainly appropriate for the top and last songs.

Nano: "MY LIBERATION" is the first song of 2017, our 5th anniversary, and has a big impact, so I thought it had to be the top song.