that foreign music blog🌎

Naturally, I couldn’t go without posting about my favorite band’s new song from their newly released EP, ‘Jeuness’. From the title of the EP alone, I was expecting a vintage rock sound that’s been familiar throughout their albums. Although they do like to experiment with a lot of sounds, throwing in pop and country-reminiscent acoustics, I always identified SIX LOUNGE as a band that was heavily influenced by post-70s and 80s rock.

“New Age Blues” however, feels a bit more… “New age”. It’s likely due to the effects that fade in and out of the song, much like how vocalist Yuumori shifts from shouts to gentle acknowledgments that hit in a way that is almost melancholic. As a whole, the staccato and layered melodies over the creeping bass give the song a mysterious, ghostly feeling. Despite the fast tempo, there’s certainly something that feels…not ‘dragging’, but the way Yuumori holds onto the notes in the chorus makes it seem as if he’s pulling the rest of the song with him. It’s an interesting contrasting effect.

The lyrics also seem to express some contradiction to themselves. For example, they say “Hold me tight, lonely night”, then go to “Don’t touch me now”. To be honest, I’m having a hard time grasping the Japanese. The chorus is:

ああ正直全てばからしいよね/ ああ　すなお　すべて　ばからしいよね/　aah soo-nah-oh soo-beh-teh, bah-kah-rah-shee yoh neh
Aa, honesty is all stupid

ハッタリかませそう　NEW AGE BLUES/　はったりかませそう NEW AGE BLUES /hah-tah-ree kah-mah-seh-sou　NEW AGE BLUES
I’m bluffing. New age blues

正論ごめん DON’T TOUCH ME NOW/ せいろんごめん DON’T TOUCH ME NOW/　sei-rohn goh-meh-n DON’T TOUCH ME NOW
I’m sorry for this just argument. Don’t touch me now.

頭までやられちゃおしまいです/あたままでやられちゃおしまいっです/ah-tah-mah deh yah-rah-reh-cha oh-shee-mah-ee deh-soo (*おしまい means ‘finished’, so…I didn’t really know how to translate this. I tried to make ‘Until’ imply that…like ‘it’s over until…’. I don’t clearly understand this sentence, though. )
Until it’s done into my head????

キリがない　ごめん無理/きりがない　ごめんむり/kee-ree gah nah-ee goh-meh-n moo-ree
There’s no end. I’m sorry, I can’t/ it’s impossible

理屈ばっかうるせえ/りくつばっかうるせえ/ree-koo-tsu bah-kkah oo-roo-seeh
Loud with their reasonings/ logic

奴らに嚙みつかせて/やつらにかみつかせて/yah-tsu-rah nee kah-mee-tsu-kah-seh-teh
Let them find out

Perhaps….this is the most unconfident I’ve been about my translations, but the song as a whole might be about a heartbreak that the speaker can’t accept. Or a love that can’t be accepted. Hence the apparent conflict throughout the song—the fast and slow; the high and low. Whether or not I was completely off the mark, it was cleverly done.

The rest of the EP features soft melodies like 「Morning Glow」、「相合傘」/あいあいがさ/ aah-ee aah-ee gah-sah (Sharing an Umbrella); old school punk「ドレミ。ゴー」(Doremi. Go); and finishes it out with a re-recorded version of their popular 「Mary Lou」. When SIX LOUNGE played 「Morning Glow」at their show last November, I thought that maybe their new album would feel nostalgic to long-time listeners. Even the title of the aforementioned 「New Age Blues」may remind fans of 「New Born My Blues」from their very first album. To finish with 「Mary Lou」was a nice way to convey the band’s growth. It’ll be interesting to hear what their full album will sound like.