As part of their 18th anniversary concert this year, held on the 9th day of the 9th month of the year 2022, ALICE NINE. had huge news to share:
GRACE
01. Living Dead
02. Funeral
03. Moondance
04. Exodus:
05. Envy
06. 界
07. Answer
08. Roar
09. Farewell Flowers
10. Grace
Their next album, titled GRACE, will be released on the 2nd of November 2022, and will kick off a nationwide tour that same month, which will end in a grand finale to be played on the 24th of December 2022. They also announced the commencement of preorders being taken (through the fanclub only) for the limited edition of their new album, which will include all 10 tracks of the album on a CD, along with a Bluray disc containing the album’s two music videos along with the entirety of their finale performance for the Brutal Revelation tour this past spring.
As if that weren’t enough great news for one day, they also unveiled their newest music video, which promotes the last track on their new album.
Grace
The album name is in uppercase, while the title track is in lowercase. And yes, it does share the name of a compilation album they did a limited release for back in 2016, but this deeply-significant word and concept clearly deserved a revival.
One of Saga’s influences going way back was Jeff Buckley’s album Grace, and just last year for their 17th Anniversary live, in which they played the entirety of their GEMINI album, they played the Buckley track Grace in the livehouse while fans were still finding their seats and waiting for the concert to start. I’ve made no secret over the years of how much I love and have been inspired by ALICE NINE.’s album GEMINI so being able to watch that performance as it happened, even from afar, was in all honesty a dream come true for me. It was bliss. That being said, I am also a fan of the album Grace, which I started listening to because of the fact that Saga blogged about it years ago, and it’s continued to influence me over the years as well. Thanks, Saga! 🙂
I don’t know if the new album title (or the title of this lead track) had already been decided, even back then, but I thought that was a beautiful connection. A little premonition of what was to come, back when Saga first tweeted a hint that a very significant album for ALICE NINE. was on the horizon.
Grace is a Saga composition, and one that has been in the works since early 2020, though Saga tweeted to say that it wasn’t originally meant to be released as an ALICE NINE. song, which is why there are vestiges of Saga in it (that is, Saga sang extensive harmonies with Show in it). I’ve included the translated tweets below. If you compare the still cover image used on Funeral to that of Grace before you watch the video, you’ll note that Funeral features only Show on it, while Grace features a still of the entire band mid-playing. That contrast in initial presentation alone in the context of the album is very interesting. But the songs themselves also sound incredibly different in feel and atmosphere. I’ve already written at length about how much I love Funeral, so I’ll just get right into my love for Grace.
March 31st 2020
In times like this I make songs
I’m making one right now
By the way, this isn’t related to the album or to the band
(Saga uploaded a clip of the song-in-progress, which we now know is Grace, and was referring to their album NIGHTLESS CITY EDEN)
September 9th 2022
I’ve had Grace since then, you know.
I had neither the intention of making it the lead track of the album nor of doing it with the band, but
That’s why, as a sort of relic, I’m singing in it.
As as soon as you press play, it is immediately apparent that Grace is tied to a classic, well-loved ALICE NINE. song: the beautiful name.
A prélude, maybe, or else a companion piece, an homage.
Is this perhaps the long-held idea that Saga mentioned in the last album-related tweet? An idea that Saga then began making a reality in early 2020? We’ll have to wait for interviews and talk events to learn more.
With the long, quiet lead-in, the anticipation builds to an incredible point; I wonder if the long lead-in and outro is just for the music video, or whether all eight minutes are part of the recording on the album proper. Grace is wonderfully layered and complex with a beautiful, uplifting melody; those harmonies between Show and Saga feel like an updraft, continually pulling the song skyward.
Grace is expansive, but it takes its time to unfold.
No rushing. A steady march to take in the glorious scale of the music.
The way that the music bursts with light at 5:47 is nothing short of magnificent.
I am in awe.
This song is a thing of beauty and grace.
The アリス九號.
And in the video, at the end, they all huddle under furs, snow falling over them, waiting for the arrival of spring. Which, of course, is their joy-filled classic, the beautiful name.
The end of the voyage and the day to be graced.
Incorporating lots of slow-motion shots, along with the lengthy intro and outro ending on a shot of a door standing before an ocean, the music video further underscores the epic scale of the music.
Show revealed in a tweet that 武瑠 Takeru (through Akubi Inc Tokyo) was the artistic director of this music video, following his previous work on their CYAN video released in the summer of 2020. Just like the last time, 武瑠 Takeru framed them in a way that hadn’t really been done before. There is something to be said for having a fan take the reins!
Show, September 9th 2022
“Grace”
Into irreplaceable days, we load love
I can’t say everything I want to about all the thoughts I have, so please let me talk about them another time.
Thank you.
武瑠 Takeru, September 10th 2022
Following CYAN, I’ve been afforded the chance to produce an MV.
“The アリス九號.” as a theme was big here, so the idea took some time to think of, but the slow motion staging opened up the creative path in one go.
As did the homage to a past song.
Once again, congratulations on your 18th anniversary.
Show replied again to Takeru this morning to say, very warmly,
“While busy with an overseas live and his own activities, I got a deep impression from Takeru, who didn’t compromise one bit on the direction of the project or MV. I’m truly grateful he undertook it with us.“
They managed to get trending on Twitter as well both before and after their live, which was all the more significant due to the fact that it coincided with the appearance of the harvest moon. Auspicious.
Grace is the sort of song that doesn’t need you to fully understand it right away. It is the type of song that sounds better with each listen, becoming fuller with each new detail of the sound strata you take notice of. I am going to be very excited to delve into the minutia of the lyrics on release day. Grace must have been spectacular to hear live, and I’m sure it will just become more beautiful as it is played and listened to, as time goes on. A classic in the making.
I think it may also be significant that in the 18th anniversary live, they played Waterfall just before Grace, a song which leads the listener into the beautiful name… those three songs together form quite a breathtaking flow of emotion. I love that they are all being woven together that way. I think it may also be safe to think, at this point, that “Grace” is the beautiful name.
Another element in the アリス九號. mythology given shape.
For the moment though, that’s just my own personal interpretation. We’ll have to wait and see whether they expound on this in interviews and comments in the coming weeks and months. Slowly, the world their music inhabits deepens, unfolds further.
As a longtime fan, I am so proud of them, and am very much looking forward to listening to the entire album, start to finish, when it comes out in two months.
This soundscape, this mindscape is worth the wait.
.