Interview] Shiina Natsukawa releases her 2nd album "Composite. It is a powerful album with a lineup of emotionally-charged songs based on the theme of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure!

Shiina Natsukawa has made a big leap forward as an artist by releasing "Antithesis" and "Krakut Little Pride" singles in rapid succession and successfully completing a nationwide tour with the band on her back. The result of these efforts, her second album "Composite," which includes two singles, has finally been completed!
The album contains 13 songs that express her emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure. Many of the songs have lyrics written by Shiina herself, and the album is a substantial album filled with everything Shiina Natsukawa has to offer today. The Blu-ray of the limited edition includes the complete performance of "Shiina Natsukawa's Zepp Live Tour 2020-2021 Pre-2nd" @ Zepp DiverCity (TOKYO) held in July 2021, which is also a highlight of the album.
Shiina Natsukawa stimulates listeners' emotions and draws them into the world of her music in every song, from cute pops to edgy rock. We hope you will enjoy this one-of-a-kind music!

I feel that I have grown up after singing for 3 years!

─ ─ I had a chance to listen to your 2nd album "Composite" right away. This is your first album in about 3 years since your last album "Logline". What kind of work did you want to make?

Natsukawa: After the first album, I released two singles, "Antithesis" and "Krakut Little Pride," and "Antithesis" was a song expressing "anger" and "Krakut Little Pride" expressing "joy" and "anger," respectively. We decided early on that the concept for the album would be a continuation of that, a collection of songs that fit into one of the categories of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure. I wanted to make an album that would show my fans how I am feeling and how I am living my life right now, while utilizing the experience I have gained and the lessons I have learned in singing over the past three years.

─ ─ How do you feel you have grown and changed as an artist over the past three years?

Natsukawa: Well, ......, I think I have more stamina than I did for the first album (laughs). (Laughs) Because I have more leeway in my singing, I am able to pay attention to detailed nuances and extend the sound as I wish. I think this has allowed me to express exactly what I wanted to sing in my head.

─ ─ Do you think that the first factor in your growth was the improvement of your physical strength?

Natsukawa: Yes, I think that's for sure...when I released my first album, I sometimes got out of breath when singing live and my throat was easily broken, but as a result of the spartan training (laughs), I have a voice that does not wither in a little while and a throat that does not break.

─ I could tell that Natsukawa-san's power had been improved by listening to "Composite". The songs are all very physically demanding, and I thought it was amazing that she would be performing these songs live from now on.

Natsukawa: During recording, we sang each song as if we were grinding ourselves to death, and every day we would feel a comfortable tiredness that said, "I've put in all I have today! I would return home from the studio physically exhausted (laughs). (laughs). So, I would like to work even harder for future live performances.

─ Did you do any exercises to improve your physical strength?

Natsukawa: "I ran every day! I guess it would be more convincing if I could say, "I was running every day! But I was always given new songs that were at a slightly higher level than Natsukawa's full strength at the time, so I think my daily training consisted of making repeated efforts to sing those songs. Preparation was absolutely necessary, especially for live performances, so we rented a studio and repeated "Kosaren" training. I think that repeated live performances were the best training for me.

─ I feel that you trained in a practical way. Besides physical training, is there anything else that you feel you have grown?

Natsukawa: It is a bit of an exaggeration to say that my ears have been trained, but I think that the way I listen to music has changed. Before, I used to just feel "this is a cute song" or "this person is good at not missing a note," but now I am able to notice how to put in detailed emotions and nuances, and I listen to music while thinking about how I would sing it.

─ So you feel that you have grown in both skill and awareness. I think the result is the second album "Composite". I felt a high level of artistry in this album, and to put it simply, it was a cool album.

Natsukawa I am very happy. Thank you very much.

─ As you mentioned earlier, the concept of this album is to express joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, isn't it?

Natsukawa: Following the lead singles, the new songs on the album were written so that the direction of the lyrics and the feeling when listening to the songs would fall into one of the categories of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure. and the coupling "That's All Right ! were "easy" songs, so the nine new songs on the album were balanced by gathering more "joy" and "sorrow" songs. Then, I assembled the album so that the flow of the album would be joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. However, when I listened to the completed album, I found that the songs were not clearly divided into four emotions, but rather the emotions were gently shifting throughout the album like a gradation.

─ Some of the songs had more than one emotion in them. That makes it more realistic, doesn't it? What is the meaning behind the title of the album, "Composite"?

Natsukawa: "Composite" is a word that means "synthesis," and I wanted to express the idea that Natsukawa is what she is today by combining the various emotions she feels in her daily life.

The lead song "Harenova Takeover" is the second song provided by Tomoya Tabuchi.

─ ─ Now, let me ask you about each song: The first song "Harenova Takeover" is the lead song of the album, written by Tomoya Tabuchi of UNISON SQUARE GARDEN, and arranged by R.O.N.

Natsukawa: Following "Krakut Little Pride," Tabuchi-san provided us with this song, and this time he also wrote the lyrics. I asked him to create a song with a different direction from "Krakut Little Pride," but one that would be a "joy" song that would be a lot of fun at a live performance. I also told him that the song should be appropriate for the first song and have an image of opening up the world.

───This song turned out just as you said, didn't it?

Natsukawa: Yes. It has a joyful tone, and the lyrics include the words "It's beginning. I had originally decided to make "Krakut Little Pride" the last song, so this album started with Tabuchi-san's song and ended with his song.

The lyric "Isn't it too much of a chore to divide your emotions into four categories?" which is connected to the concept of the album, isn't it?

Natsukawa That's right. It is a denial to divide emotions into four categories (laugh). But on the contrary, Tabuchi-san seems to predict the future of the album to the extent that I think he might be a prophet. As I said before, when the album was completed, I came to the conclusion that emotions are not divided into four categories, but are much more complex.

─ ─ As expected of Tabuchi-san. Harenova Takeover" has a lot of words, just like Tabuchi's songs, and must have been difficult to sing?

Natsukawa: Yes, it was very difficult. Even more so than "Krakut Little Pride. But just by listening to it, "Krakut Little Pride" seems more difficult. That was frustrating (laughs). It was "Harenova Takeover" that was more difficult in a more discernible way, and I felt that the level required of me had been raised a notch.

──This song has a music video (MV), a short version of which is already available on YouTube, and the full-size MV will be included on the Blu-ray of the album. How was the filming?

Natsukawa: First of all, as the title "Harenova Takeover" suggests, it was great that we were able to shoot on a sunny day. The outside location was beautifully sunny, and we were able to perform under a beautiful blue sky with four dancers. I was conscious of a cool smile that was different from the smiles I have shown in my previous music videos, a kind of "I did it" smile, and a "fun! Rather than a "fun!" smile, the atmosphere was more like "follow me," and I think it was closer to the way I am when I perform at live shows.

─ ─ When I was singing, I had a powerful expression on my face. During the indoor shooting, in addition to the dance scenes, there was also a scene where Natsukawa was editing the video on a computer. What you see on the monitor screen is the music video for "Harenova Takeover" that you are watching right now. I thought this idea was interesting.

Natsukawa: It turned out to be a music video in the style of me, who uploads a variety of videos to YouTube. The word "composite" is also a visual term, and I was conscious of the music video not only for "Harenova Takeover," but also for the album as a whole. By using compositing, I visually expressed how the various emotions are seamlessly connected by connecting the cuts as if there is another screen within the screen.


─ ─ In the full-size MV, there is a scene in which you destroy "something" that cannot be seen in the short version.

Natsukawa: You are destroying it (laughs). If you watch the making of the music video, which is only included in the limited first pressing, you will understand why that scene was staged the way it was. Also, the "certain thing" that I am destroying is something that was used impressively in the first album, and it also contains the message that I have changed from the first album to the second album.