never young beach "fam fam"
Interview & text by Shoichi Miyake
A new album with enhanced universality that makes you want to listen to it not only in the season for beaches, but all year round. Their even-more-cohesive ensemble has brought out songs and grooves that are absolutely fascinating!
For never young beach, ‘summer’ is not a season for them to absolutely rely on in terms of their musical expression, but is simply a motif for them to add more color to daily activities or scenes that are ordinaries of life, and to warm up the band’s temperature in a cozy manner. Though it is their favorite season of all, they consider that their sounds and songs should fit naturally with any other season - spring, fall, or winter. As we have seen in “YASHINOKI HOUSE,” their first album released last May, their psychedelic folk rock tunes shimmering with contemporary splendor has kept inviting listeners to a sweet utopia even after summer has passed. Listening to this new album, it is fairly affirmable that their universality underlying in their music has been enhanced even further.
The title they chose for the new collection that took about a year to complete is “fam fam.” ‘Fam’ is an English slang for ‘friends or families that have strong ties.’ Since the release of “YASHINOKI HOUSE,” they have played more than 90 gigs and strengthened the band’s solidarity even more, which leads directly to the improvement in the unifying force of their songs and the dynamism of their grooves.
““YASHINOKI HOUSE” was recorded after the band had officially kicked into gear, so the directions of my songs were not really established yet. Some of the numbers were recorded at someone’s apartment. But over the last year, we had a lot of live shows and I have learned the way of singing that I feel good with, or the way that fits the music. The band has become a main part of my life over the last year, and now I feel more responsible. Through meeting with many different people, I came to realize that I want to work with the people whom I could admire. The feeling of caring for my band members has grown naturally, which leads me to this album title, and affects my lyrics.” (Yuma Abe, vocals & guitar)
“We went to many different places together to play gigs, sometimes we had fights, but through those arguments, we formed close bonds. It’s like a year of youth (laughs). As Yuma’s songs got better, the band’s instrumental section learned better grooves. As for my drums, in the previous recording there was a kind of an impromptu feel to my playing, but this time I had a clear idea about the sounds I wanted to create with my drums, so I told the image to my drum tech crew, Ken-san, before we started the recording. That experience enabled me to grow as a drummer.” (Kento Suzuki, drums)
‘My drum tech, Ken-san’ is referring to Kensuke Sato (of HiGE; Japanese rock band). They also had Hirotoshi Hayashi (Odottebakarinokuni; Japanese rock band) as the guitar tech man. Since “fam fam” contains a lot of tracks already played in their setlists of past live shows, Abe says, “It feels like ‘YASHINOKI HOUSE’ and ‘fam fam’ together make one album.” They let loose their high-energy ensemble from the first track “Pink Jungle House,” and on the title track “fam fam” with the memorable rhythm section reminiscent of Motown-style beats, they show off their unique positive popness all brushed up. The cover of “Jitensyani Notte (meaning Riding My Bike)” by Wataru Takada (Japanese folk singer) plays as smoothly as if it were their own song, and the last two songs of “Akarui Mirai (meaning Bright Future)” and “Owakareno Uta (meaning The Parting Song)” touch listener’s heart with sounds that feel like passion transcends sentiment. This is their second album that sounds so promising that we can’t help but expect more for their future.
never young beach “Amari Ikanai Kissaten” from album "YASHINOKI HOUSE" (2015) ――“fam fam”もそうだけど、レイドバックしたグッド・ソングの“夢で逢えたら”やポジティヴなフィーリングに満ちているアップテンポな“明るい未来”、エモーショナルなラストの“お別れの歌”にしても、亡くなった人に対する視線や死を迎えた先の思いが通底しているなって思うんですけど。
never young beach “fam fam” from album "fam fam" (2016)
“I think we finally managed to put into shape the music that we have been seeking to. Now that I feel satisfied, I want to spend more time to listen to music for a while, and absorb something new (laughs).” (Abe)
“Now we enjoy our music at a higher level, so if we continue making good songs and play good gigs as always, the band will be able to step up inevitably. Just like that, I hope we keep up the good work and have fun with it.” (Suzuki)
never young beach “Akarui Mirai” from album "fam fam" (2016)
