A new challenge for i☆Ris has been completed! Interview to commemorate the release of 3rd ALBUM "WONDERFUL PALETTE

Anison vocal unit i☆Ris, celebrating its fifth anniversary since its formation, released its third album "WONDERFUL PALETTE" on November 1, 2017.

Released in June 2016, "Ready Smile!" which was released in June 2016, as well as "Ichizu - Budokan Ver.", which is included on the album for the first time, and solo songs produced by the members themselves.

We asked the members how they are feeling now that they have completed this milestone album.

Third album produced amidst a stronger bond between the members

─ ─ As you celebrate the 5th anniversary of your formation, please tell us about your current state of mind and look back on your past activities.

Yuu Serizawa (Serizawa): Finally, "i☆Ris" was removed from the album title. Was it time to quit?　(laughs). I hope this album will highlight our personal side.

Yuki Wakai (hereafter, Wakai): There are songs that have not been included in the album before and many new songs, including solo songs by each of us, so I hope many people will pick up the album.

Saki Yamakita (Yamakita) The color of the costumes has changed a bit, and I think we can show a new side of i☆Ris.

Miyu Kubota (Kubota): During the live tour held this year, I sang a solo song at each venue, and I think the number of solo songs has increased even more with this album.

I think I made my fans worried because I didn't release an album or even a single. It is not only for you, but also for us, "I've been waiting for this! This album is a "long-awaited" album not only for you but also for us.

I feel very grateful that we have been able to release songs including tie-ups consistently for a long time.

───It has been about a year and a half since the release of our 2nd album "Th!s ! It's been about a year and a half since you released your second album "Th!s !

Wakai During that time, I feel like I have seen the members' names in various places.

Shibuya: I personally haven't changed so much, but I feel the change of the group itself. I feel that we have more chances to have dinner and chat with each other when we go to local areas for live concerts or events. Because we are working individually more often, I can cherish the time with the members.

Serizawa Indeed. There are many senior members and people I meet for the first time at each site, and I have to pay attention to them, but at i☆Ris sites, I feel I can relax.

Kubota: I think that the fact that we don't have so much time to get together with the other members has conversely made us more focused during rehearsals.

Akaneya: After this interview, I am going to another site by myself, but I plan to meet up with the members again in the evening. I am glad to be able to work with the peace of mind that I have a place to come home to.

Yamakita To be frank, when "Th!s ! was released, to be honest, I didn't feel very comfortable (in the group).

All the other members... I didn't know that! I didn't know that!

Yamakita: But it's fine now (laughs). At that time, all I could think about was "What should we do with i☆Ris?" But after we held "i☆Ris 4th Anniversary LIVE 418" at Nippon Budokan last November, I started to think about "What should we do with each individual? In the end, I think I have found a better balance between how to devote my passion for i☆Ris and how to devote my passion for individual activities. I feel that way.

─ What is the theme of this album?

Akaneya: If the previous albums were an introduction of the group i☆Ris, this album is mainly an introduction of each member.

Shibuya: I think you will understand that "i☆Ris can show various colors" including cool new songs.

Wakai In a word, it is an "individual introduction"!　Up to now, we have been adding colors to what we received, but I think we are able to add (transmit) colors by ourselves in this album.

Serizawa: We were able to make this album because we have come to have a clear idea of what we want to do, and because we celebrated the 5th anniversary since the formation of the band.

The solo songs and the round-table discussion DVD are worth listening to and watching!

─ Please introduce the solo songs you sang.

Yamakita: The song I sang was "Heart Crash! I was asked to sing a song with a Showa flavor, as the Showa songs I sang there were well received during the live tour. I ordered a song with a Showa flavor. The song actually turned out to be a song with a Showa flavor, but also with a modern feel.

I sang it wistfully with an awareness of Showa-era songs, and I think it turned out to be a very exciting number.

Serizawa: "Kiminokano kanousei" was my first attempt at writing lyrics! I was going to write lyrics like "I'm an idol! But when I heard the techno melody by TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND, I thought, "That's not right! I thought. I am also a solo singer, but in my solo work, I express a confident Yu Serizawa, so in i☆Ris, I tried to express a realistic version of myself. At the end of the song, there is a lyric "Making my answer for You! which contains a message to listeners such as "I haven't been able to find the answer yet, but I will find it, so you should do your best!

Akaneya: I have written lyrics before in line with the world of the work, but this was the first time I was allowed to write on a free theme.

When I first wrote the lyrics myself, I decided to write them for my grandmother, whom I absolutely love, and since ballads are originally my favorite genre of music and Kosuke Noma, who composed and arranged the music, was also my favorite creator, "Dear..." became a very satisfying song. I hope this song will give you a break from the many intense songs on this album.

Wakai: "Growing days" was originally written about two years ago. I was able to write this song with a very honest feeling, and when I listen to it again now, I think to myself, "I was so positive back then!

Kubota: For "Lovely Time," even though I have sung solo as a character before, this is the first time for me to sing a solo as Miyu Kubota. So I was somewhat nervous, but since I was going to the trouble, I wanted to put my favorite things into the song. The other members sang songs about themselves as they are, but I thought, "I want to show them the idol Kubota Miyu at the beginning.

The person who always directs i☆Ris songs was in charge of the direction, but this time he left me free to do what I wanted. So I was able to record the song while imagining how I would sing it in a live performance, and it was a lot of fun!

Shibuya: "DETERMINE" has a different band sound from the other members, but I was very happy when I heard that my favorite guitarist, YOUSAY, wrote the song. I was very happy when I heard that YOUSAY, my favorite guitarist, was going to write the song. I gave him my best shot and asked him to write a song where I could hear his guitar sound to the fullest (laugh).

(Laughs) I had initially planned to ask SHINNOSUKE to write all the lyrics, but I wanted to write them myself, so we ended up co-writing the lyrics. I wrote the lyrics in such a way that even if you read the lyrics alone before listening to the melody, you can understand the meaning of the song as if it were a letter, so please pay attention to the lyrics as well.

─ ─ I heard that the DVD containing the discussion session, not the chat session ......, will be included for those who purchase the three albums from Type-A to C at the same time.

Shibuya: No, that's right!　It is exactly a "chat session" (laughs).

Wakai Zuchan (Shibuya) was in a slightly tipsy mood (laughs).

Yamakita: The six of us talked incessantly in a karaoke box.

Serizawa I think the hardest part was the staff, because they were running the camera for about 2 hours, all the time sitting in the middle of the room. ......

Kubota Please buy the album and find out what you are interested in!