NEW SODMY ~personal interview with KAMIJO~
Because memories are weapons, until it is time to come...
NEW SODMY's long-awaited first album "Confess to a Love" will be released June 26. It represents the realization of the members' paths in the year since the band was formed. Within it is the world of KAMIJO's lyrics, encompassing love, sin, chaos, and even "that" emotion...the contents of which truly lay bare everything. We want you to listen carefully to such a "confession" from him.
Photography: KENJI TSUKAGOSHI / interview: JUNKO ARASAWA

What are your honest feelings now that you've completed the first album "Confess to a Love"?
In the end, it contains almost a year's worth of work, so it's a really full album, I think. Of course, there's the matter of the flow of the lyrics too, but rather than get hung up on that, the album was created for the listening.
What do you have to say about the choice of songs and the songs' order?
I knew that "since J&L" definitely had to be last. By the lyrics, "A way of life" should naturally be first, since it was the first time the four of us wrote lyrics together. And then, since "Romantic Season" is a song from the LAREINE period, it really shouldn't have been included; "farewell" and "actor" also probably shouldn't have been on it by this time either. Also, for the second half, it should be "thirteen's in the beauty" and "fantasia", and then right before "since J&L" would be "imagine".
What song was the one you wanted to perform first as NEW SODMY?
I would say "Audrey". That was the song that was the key to AYA's joining...but also the addition of AYA's guitar made the music stylish and full, and I felt that it brought us closer to the "mode" that I imagined. That was what I wanted to perform first. But it isn't complete yet.
Now, let's go into detail one song at a time. First, "PHANTOM".
I already had the melody for the part in the refrain that goes "I aim for you in bed" by about...the beginning of 2000.
Why did you wait till now?
At that time, you could say I was in chaos (laugh), and I was letting what was inside of me out raw. So at that time, I couldn't let that out. In an expression...the true self of the Lupin-loving me has been revealed (laugh).
When you released "Romantic Season" as a NEW SODMY song, did you change the lyrics?
I didn't. Since the feeling (in these lyrics) has become real for me, I could release the song now. I'd like for you to listen to it as a simple song about love. Since a long time ago, I compared various feelings to love, so while you listen to it as a song about love, if you feel other things as well, I leave that to the listener. In addition, note that I didn't use the word "snow", although I hadn't realized that myself.
Next, "fantasia".
As this version was done with three people, it turned out to have an interesting feel. The lyrics are in English, but the meaning is that, though I am always immersed in fantasy, if there is another way to live, I want you to teach me. It's a determination to live according to fate. Now that we are three members, it has a good meaning to the change in NEW SODMY, and it has very strongly awaken an awareness to be myself. I think that this song shows such a feeling.
Then, "Are you sodmy?"?
This is totally playing around with words. Splitting "sodmy/dummy/bunny", difficult words to say, onto different tracks...for the refrain, the vocals itself had six tracks. Recording was tough. If you dig deeply, there are other meanings too, but I thought it would be good for the album to have one song like this, so I made up the lyrics just like that.
Next is "squall".
A squall is a thing that hits without warning, right? You're waiting in front of Marui [department store] for your lover, thinking she's not coming and then she suddenly appears...that moment is the same feeling. It's a squall of happiness. I think it's a song that turned into something brilliant.
"I fell in love faster than the speed of light" seems like you.
I suppose so (laugh). Nothing wrong with an expression I would use.
There's also the single "imagine".
Deep within the spreading forest of "fantasia", there is "imagine", a world of ice. In the album, the last place that NEW SODMY arrives is the world of ice called "imagine"; what thoughts arise there...you can't see into the ice; there's just you reflected in the ice. Rather than concentrating on how you feel about the lyrics, I want you to discover something which you normally can't see about yourself.
"Ice" is a cold, freezing image, but that's not your meaning, is it?
It's not an image of freezing, but one of "sealing". I want you to find out something you have sealed within yourself.
What is sealed within NEW SODMY?
Right now, I think the apparent thing that is relevant is "our individuality". The foundation won't be changing anymore, but...we want to make each moment precious.
I see. Next, "actor".
In a nutshell, it's a song about meeting someone you had never been able to meet.
In this song, "snow" comes up. You've done this before, but seasons are often mentioned.
I have memories of being reborn by the scent of flowers. When I express people's feelings, it's gotten so that I can't not include words about seasons. On the contrary, if I don't use such words, I might be able to improve myself more.
"Audrey" is also an early song.
The lyrics for the refrain came first, then I thought of it as being tied to the image of the fashion show in "CAT WALK". The feeling I get is things like, I want my partner to shine for me, and I want that person to be happy.
The song mentions a "blue bird"...
That refers to, well..."that" thing which I wrote about way back. My feelings were the same as those I had back then.
Next is "thirteen's in the beauty".
There were lots of gaudy images mixed together inside me. At first, I had an image of something heavier and all English, but I definitely wanted to get psychedelic colors into the lyrics, so I used Japanese for the refrains. Once I got the word "psychedelic" in, the melody that arose turned out to be great. I guess it sort of has the feel of psychedelic pop. Also, I think the guitar part is unexpected. It turns out that AYA-kun can play this kind of guitar as well. And I realized that the words "prison/heaven/small of chain" are a continuation of the flow from "WHITE LIE". That the album itself is sin is something that started with "WHITE LIE".
Where did that thing you call "sin" come from?
First, everyone has a previous band, you know. AYA-kun and YOU-kun are really "ex-something", but you can't really say that for me. A good way to put that would be that there's a "criminal record".
The nuances get worse and worse (wry laugh).
I, to whom "living is a sin"...wouldn't say that (laugh).
(laugh) So next, "CAT WALK".
A woman doing a swaying model walk down a pure white stage...like the aisle of the stage for TOUR "CAT WALK", it's similar to that image.
There's the impression that with this song, NEW SODMY strayed from the usual.
We already had the song since the time of "JEALOUSY" so...on the contrary, because we have this song, this has become a chance to think of moving in this direction. The song shows that (laugh).
Then, "farewell".
When I first heard it, I had the image of an airport and decided to make the lyrics the memory of a farewell conversation there. So there's a lot of dialog. It's reminiscent of the movie "Casablanca". The story is about leaving one's partner for the sake of her happiness. Even now, the song was influenced by that movie, when I look back on it.
Next, "A way of life".
Since all four of us wrote the lyrics, I think it's awesome that each of our thoughts could be made into a single thing. The actual words are mine, but the ideas are written as mutual feelings.
There are also ultimate expressions like "I would choose death".
That's right. The scene is of...a line formed on the River Styx where everyone is walking toward the world of the dead. That's the version where we are facing the future. In other words, not in reality but in the heart, everyone is facing the same direction. Within that, you alone look back for an instant. It's also in the lyrics, but the question is can you live without depending on your past? But if you hide your past within yourself, it will later become your strength. The lyrics say that because memories are weapons, until it is time to come, live on holding them hidden.
Earlier, you mentioned the phrase "criminal record"; when I hear this, I wonder what memories everyone is holding inside to get to this point. It's complicated.
It is. Actually, it's okay if people think of everyone's various pasts, but more than that, I want everyone to listen to the song in such a way that it applies to their own situation. Also, I want you to listen to the opening chorus in the guitar solo!
And last, "since J&L"...we're deeply interested in why the term "J&L", which appeared during LAREINE, has surfaced again.
That's because I really am singing about LAREINE. If you read the lyrics, those who know will understand, so I'm not particularly trying to hide that. It's something that came up after we finished making the album. While I'm doing NEW SODMY, I am NEW SODMY, so I haven't touched on LAREINE at all. I was able to do that because of "A way of life", and I was able to make this album, so I could write those lyrics. That is what I wanted to get across with "Confess to a Love". The "determination" in "fantasia" is...really, a bit apparent in the vague realization that in the beginning "he is part of NEW SODMY as LAREINE's KAMIJO". But now the "determination" is a realization that something else has been born. Honestly, the "sin" that I committed might have been that realization. I believe that I only need to keep LAREINE within me. But I want to establish a real style for NEW SODMY. The "KAMIJO-ness" that has been hidden until now... That was in part of the refrain of "CAT WALK". I hope to reveal more of that. Also, this song had drums at the beginning too, but YOU-kun told me, "Let's make it the song and piano." We did and I'm glad it became a ballad that suits me. But for lives, if possible, I want to perform it as a band.
What do you mean by "second act" in the lyrics...?
As for that, it's a sign; when I could find some quiet time while NEW SODMY was going around on tour, I thought it would be good to show straightforwardly how I still felt on the inside.
Deep meaning. Well, every single word in the lyrics has meaning.
If you think that, I'm honored. I've made tons of promises. Well, that's the idea anyway (laugh).
So, what activities will NEW SODMY be doing?
First, let's meet on the day of the next full moon. Plus, we have set TOUR "imagine" for August for Tokyo, Nagoya, and Oosaka. There will be new songs for the tour, we'll create an "imagine" suitable for NEW SODMY, and I'd like to tie the things that arise there together, so please come join us.


Back to Interviews
Back to Main