Today is the day when, 18 years ago, 5 musicians first took the the stage together to play a set as a newly-formed band. Their name?
アリス九號
The period came later, in August, when they made things official — and the rest is a long, storied history. One that is still being written. As both アリス九號. and ALICE NINE.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that my life changed for the better when I started listening to their music and following them. They’ve inspired me so much over the years and have carried me to so many emotional heights and depths. アリス九號.の世界は居場所ですよ。これからもずっと応援してます。
To mark the incredible achievement that is continuing a band for 18 years, they held a livestream open for all fans to watch, and then surprised us all with the unveiling of their newest song and its decadent music video.
Funeral
A song and music video that glorifies visual kei, and a return their roots.
I’ve listened to it at least a dozen times already today and it gets better every time.
I love it.
When I first listened to it, what I loved most about it was how natural it looks and sounds. The music feels complex and layered, but it flows so smoothly. The melody drew me in right away. It’s dynamic. The visuals are (in good visual kei fashion) over the top, but still feel so decadent and tasteful. It doesn’t feel like anyone is putting on airs or trying too hard to look or sound cool. They just ARE cool.
You can hear Saga’s melodic bass line threading through the song… softly and firmly tying the song together. But for the bass solo, Saga stands out, takes centre stage on a throne of an armchair. Regal and enthralling.
I love Saga’s shiny, wet-look outfit, those half-gloves, and the eye makeup. In the past, Saga would always wear a butterfly patch, and now we see the sleeker, raw version of that visual touch. The elongated white lines make me think of a spell glyph — something powerful and mysterious. Saga, I’m under your spell… ♡
Having read all of the album-related official note entries leading up to this, I had an idea of what I might be able to expect, but this is far better than I had imagined. Such a familiar style of sound, but distilled into a form that is an absolute pleasure for the ears. You’re not being hit with a wall of sound, you’re being led into a full-bodied song that you have to listen to over and over again in order to appreciate all its layers of detail.
Nao’s drumming made me think of M.C. Escher’s drawing, Relativity, of a room of impossible dimensions, filled with staircases. With long hair and a hood, Nao fully got into Visual Kei mode, and it was reminiscent of his serious performance in SAGA SEA (Saga’s birthday concert in 2021).
Tora and Hiroto’s guitar teamwork is so crisp in this song, each taking turns to leap out of the musical fray with sliding, bursting phrases.
From Shou we get a RUMWOLF-style initial gasp, a TESTAMENT-style groan, and truly great vocals throughout. I feel like we got to see a fully-realized version of Shou’s bloody Zettai Koku Ryouiki visuals and it says something that Shou seems entirely at home wearing a blood-red cross that drips from his mouth, as though the lyrics formed that shape.
Saga explained a lot of the impetus for their decision to make a purely visual kei style album in note 134, through an interview. Though the sound in the visual kei genre was fairly distinctive in the 90s and early 2000s, in recent years a lot of bands in the genre have been shying away from true visual kei sounds and blending genres instead, taking ideas and tones here and there, watering down what was once a very recognizable genre.
Drawing on the example of a “back to basics” trend in hip hop, Saga thought that they should vie for the same in Visual Kei, and with this upcoming album make something that would draw on all the markers of true Visual Kei while also updating it and making it their own with their unique sound. Saga is taking the helm as producer for this album (as a Saga-fan this news made me ecstatic), and Funeral is his composition (Kai, which we only have the lyrics for at present, is a Tora composition). When asking the others to work on compositions for the album, Saga’s request was straightforward: “Raw pieces formed simply, just with our five sounds“. Saga also told them to remember what music they themselves thought sounded cool and to try composing music from there.
Simple, yet fantastic advice.
For any sort of art-making, actually, not only music.
Based on Funeral alone, which drags us to decadent depths, I know already that I am going to have this album on repeat, and that I am going love diving into all of the lyrics as well. You can feel the way they’re building not so much a storyline but an atmosphere with this, drawing on all of the things that they think are cool and inviting us to join them in this deep new world of sound.
I’m ready to savour it.
Slowly, thoroughly.
そっと…