Listening to Popcorn with Nino - Nino's song by song commentary

[barbosa2007.livejournal.com]

I would have glanced over this TV Pia issue if it weren't for this interview. What better way to celebrate the release of "Popcorn" than to listen it with a song by song commentary from an Arashi member? Nino also talks in greater depth about composing his own solo.

I wonder who came up with the idea of “Popcorn” for the album title? I don’t really remember, though. (laughs) Well, the members decided [on the title] together, from a number of names. The previous album and the one before that were created with a strong message in mind, so we “just wanted to create a new album which specialized in cheeriness” and “wouldn’t it be great to make a more pop-like album? That being said, we first determined that this would be the direction we’d be taking.

Beginning with the album cover, the members donned Popcorn hats which saw them cutting loose like never before. 

“I think that’s what we wanted. The pop which the 5 of us wanted to do.” 

When did the album production first begin?

“Was it in summer…? Nope, if it were, the songs “Akashi” and “Kakenukero” wouldn’t be released in time (for the Olympics and Nissan CMs). With that in mind, we probably had a relatively relaxed schedule when it came to the album production.”

We had the impression that the songs required you to level up as a vocalist. 

“Is that so? Nah, I had fun singing! (laughs) There are members who have undergone vocal training, and those who do it on a daily basis. As for me, I just enjoyed the privilege of singing! I hope people get to listen to it soon.”

Despite his busy schedule, we made an unreasonable request of Ninomiya to give a commentary on all the songs, to which he readily agreed. “You don’t have to play it, it’s our album!” said a spirited Ninomiya who didn’t listen to the CD, but talked about the album from his memory.

Welcome to our party

It’s a cheerful song, isn’t it! (laughs) It’s a song that we haven’t quite sung before. We’ve had a round robin rap going on in “Summer Splash” as well, but to insert it in the verse where the melody remains stable, I don’t think we’ve done something like that before. I think it’s a really effervescent song!

Kakenukero!

“Nissan Selena” CM song

For me, this song brings up the image of the Nissan CM. (TV Pia: However, we were surprised at how the other parts of the song felt different from the chorus which was used in the CM) Aah, I see. The intro is rather stylish, or should I say, subdued. That’s why the fans who are already attuned to only the chorus will probably get a shock from the gap between [the chorus and the other parts of the song].

Wild at Heart

The theme song for the “Lucky Seven”, starring Matsumoto Jun

It’s the theme song for “Lucky Seven”. (laughs) That’s right, this song epitomizes “Popcorn” the most, for me that is. That includes the content of the lyrics. Although we haven’t decided on the album’s concept when we released the single, but I think that it has come to be the song which carries the mind of Popcorn the most, results-wise. I love this song.

Face Down

The theme song for “Kagi no Kakatta Heya”, starring Ohno Satoshi

…this is kinda awesome! When I saw the names of the melody composer and arranger (Ninomiya checks out the song writing credits which are lined with foreign names), there was a lot of English. (laughs) But it’s a great song which is well loved by the fans. (TV Pia: But does the intense choreography exhaust you?) Nah, this isn’t really that exhausting… I guess? Surprisingly. Of course it’s tiring, but I find songs where I have to skip around lightly much more tiring. 

We wanna funk, we need a funk (Matsumoto’s solo)

It’s a great song… That being said, I haven’t listened to the finished product yet! Not for the other members’ solos! Well, the solos are probably what each member would want to accomplish, in their own way. That’s what I think.

Two (Ohno’s solo)

…oh my, I think it’s amazing! (laughs) It’s a love ballad? Oh, I see. I haven’t listened to the whole album yet.

Waiting for you

To sum it up, I think it’s a song with a wide range. With an expansive and weightless feel, although it’s a song that has a swaying touch to it, the four on the floor rhythm keeps it grounded; and I think that’s to the credit of the arrangement.

Rakuen (Aiba’s solo)

Isn’t Rakuen the song which leans towards the pop theme of the album? I haven’t listened to it though. (laughs) I don’t have the opportunity to listen to the others’ solos until we get to the concert venue, in my case. I do ask what the other members’ solos are like so that when I compose my own, I won’t overlap with theirs.

Tabi wa tsudzuku yo

It really feels like a song that is worth performing (in a concert). The concept of the song itself is solid, so do we perform it as it is? Or take a risk and break it down? I think we wouldn’t be able to do that normally. Certainly ,when we were recording the vocals for the song, we didn’t include fanfare and such in the arrangement.

Sore wa yappari kimi deshita (Nino's solo)

I’ve always loved the composer of the melody (Ochi Masahiro) for this song, so I’ve always thought that I wanted to work together with him someday. My wish was granted this time round, and when I received the demo tape from him, I thought, “Aaah, I knew it, it’s great.” Although I fiddled around with the arrangement on my piano for about 3 to 4 days, I sent the music director my progress each day. “That’s what I’ve come up with so far,” I’d say. And because I thought it was somewhat questionable to sing “Lalala” along to the melody, I wrote some lyrics with the intention that it would be tentative. When I tried singing it, it turned out to have a nice hook so we went along with the lyrics as they were. That’s why composing the lyrics took a short time. 

In the recording studio, it takes about an hour for the digital signal to be processed back into an audio signal, and I’m totally free while waiting! So within that hour, I thought of competing (with the processing) to see if I could write the lyrics within that period of time. And I managed to pull it off. (laughs) However, as a result, the lyrics turned out to be forlorn… (TV Pia: Is the person referred to in the lyrics already departed from this world?) Yes, that’s right. In my teens, the songs I composed had lyrics which depicted scenarios that were beyond redemption. (laughs) Somehow, things just turned out that way. Then I happened to think back on when I composed “Niji”. Because the situation was similar, in that I was writing the song for a loved one and that I was writing the lyrics and arranging the song; so the lyrics in the last stage were written as a continuation to “Niji”. And then the situation had some kind of hope. In the beginning, the arrangement was a little hardcore, or rather, somewhat depressing. But since the album IS called “Popcorn”, I thought listeners needed to feel good while listening to the song, so I gave my best shot at giving it a pop slant.

Meikyu Love Song

The theme song for “Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato De”, starring Sakurai Sho

This is a single, so… There isn’t a need to comment on this now, is there? It’s the theme song to Sho-chan’s drama. (laughs) Has it already been a year?

Your Eyes

The theme song for “Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri”, starring Aiba Masaki

This too, was a theme song for Aiba-kun’s drama… It’s amazing when you look through it like this! There are 4 singles which were the theme songs for the members’ dramas! I’m the only one who hasn’t done a drama serial for more than a year. (laughs) There’s also the NTV theme song for the London Olympics, right!? This is an album where the listener would probably realize, “Everyone in Arashi has worked really hard!” (laughs)

Fly on Friday (Sakurai’s solo)

I haven’t listened to this properly as well, but I seem to remember [Sho] saying that he wanted to do a cheerful song. Somehow, it was only during Sho-chan’s solo that I happened to be working in the studio, so I took a sneak listen. I had the impression that it was a really effervescent song.

Cosmos

It’s the song which has remained truest to its original demo; or rather, even after arranging it, there wasn’t much of a difference. At the last part, where it suddenly goes quiet, that’s about all the difference there is. Perhaps it was due to the solid concept of the song at first. (TV Pia: We could really visualize the scenery that lyrics and sound were trying to depict.) That’s right, that’s right. The worldview is easily understood, so once you step into that world and sing along, I think it feels good.

Akashi

NTV’s Olympic theme song

I’ve listened to it quite often over the summer… I’ve had lots more opportunities to listen to it, rather than performing it. The concerts are coming up, so I think the opportunities for singing it will definitely increase.

Up to you

It’s cheerful, and melody-wise it’s a really powerful song. (TV Pia: Nino’s part before the chorus, where he sings, “Sono saki e” is charming!) Due to the pitch as well, parts like those inevitably come to Leader or to me. (laughs) Somehow, with this song, you really know when the five of us are singing. It’s the same with songs like “Waiting for you” and “Tabi wa tsudzuku”, there are many songs which we sing in parts, so it’s easy to tell which part is sung by which members. The singles are centered on us singing in unison, so the album songs form a contrast to that too.


scans: Nada via saobang

Comments

[cresentruby.livejournal.com]

cant stop admiring nino *_*
thank you