TSUKEMEN “TSUKEMEN CINEMAS”
Interview & Text by: Kentaro Watanabe
Greatest film scores playable only by this trio of today
TSUKEMEN, a popular ensemble trio celebrating its 5th anniversary since major debut this year, is making an unstoppable advance. Following the first full original album released in April, they will release the second anniversary album on October 21. This arguably indicates their great popularity in the current record industry where it is quite difficult for an artist to release multiple albums in the space of a year. The theme of the coming album is film music, the genre particularly popular among the repertoire TSUKEMEN has to offer.
"The attractiveness of film music rests on a wide variety of motifs as well as a lighter and easier-listening sound than classical music. Please enjoy the music transformed into a new form by TSUKEMEN's arrangement while recalling the premier movie you have watched in a theater or at home." (SUGURU/p)
This latest piece is a compilation album that includes previously released songs, but all the (13) tracks have been newly recorded. Their musical pursuit and growth over the past 5 years are evident in the recordings.
"The studio recording took place in August and September this year, divided into 4 sessions. To show our growth over the past 5 years, we dared to spend a lot of time and effort rerecording these songs. We hope our own music ‘that sounds like it’s live but was recorded in a studio’ will reach you all." (TAIRIKU/vn)
During the period, their interpretation of slow numbers has particularly changed, they say.
"The rhythm of "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" and "Sunflower" sounded a bit drawling before. But this time, with each member's deeper interpretation of the songs and the mutual synchronization in ensembles, the musical cogs began to work flawlessly together." (KENTA/vn)
All 13 tracks are a chock full of must-listen content, but the followings are the favorite picks of each member.
"It's definitely "Star Wars." As an elementary school student, I first watched the movie when I was home from school with a cold, and ran a higher fever from all the excitement caused by the movie (laughs)." (TAIRIKU)
"I'm a big fan of Italian composer Ennio Morricone, so my pick is "GABRIEL'S OBOE from The Mission." It would be fantastic if he would write a new piece for TSUKEMEN." (KENTA)
"As a Hiroshima native, I chose "Jingi Naki Tatakai (eng. Battles Without Honor and Humanity)." I learned Hiroshima dialect from this movie as a child (laughs)." (SUGURU)
TSUKEMEN will be putting on live shows across Japan in the second half of this year as well, with almost no days off until the end of the year. As songs from this album will be featured in concerts after its release, audience will be further excited by the maturity of their music.
