ハイスイノナサ (haisuinonasa) - 変身 (henshin)

[enyx 903]

ハイスイノナサ - 変身

 

 

01. 変身

02. 地図にない街

03. ブラインド

 

The Japanese indie scene is a treasure trove of interesting, quality music; particularly in the genres of math and post-rock. Of all of the quality bands to have surfaced within these scenes in the last ten years, perhaps none are as entrancing to me as ハイスイノナサ. Their utterly brilliant soundscape is comprised of guitar, bass, piano, synth, drums, soft female vocals, and occasional electronic aspects. These elements combined with phenomenal compositional ability, atypical song structures and odd time signatures all come together to form a sound like nothing else out there. It’s hard to adequately describe ハイスイノナサ to somebody that hasn’t heard them before, but if you’re into technical, rhythmical brilliance and also happen to have a love for ostinatos, then this band has you covered. For all of their merits, however, one aspect of this band does leave something to be desired: the rate at which they release new music. Their last single, reflection, came out in the middle of 2013, and since then only one new song has managed to creep out of the woodwork as a part of last year’s Zankyo record Compilation vol.4. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that 変身 was one of my most anticipated releases of the year so far, but how did it stack up?

 

The single kicks off with the title track. Initially I was somewhat underwhelmed by this song. It bears all the hallmarks of a typical ハイスイノナサ track; complex rhythms, a constantly repeating phrase that persists throughout the majority of the song, and increasing instrumental layering as the song progresses. Where 変身 disappointed me, however, was not in its compositional qualities but in its apparent stylistic regression. ハイスイノナサ have always had a habit for changing their formula in subtle but effective ways over the years, but 変身 doesn’t feel all that different from what has come before. Despite that initial disappointment, however, I’ve slowly warmed up to the song over the last month, and I have to admit that, due to its iterative nature, it’s actually quite a good track to introduce somebody to the band with. It may not be the most experimental or unique song in their discography, but it has all of the core elements of a quality ハイスイノナサ song.

 

 

We then move on to 地図にない街, which so far is my favourite track from the single and probably one of my favourite songs by the band as a whole. Whereas the title track opted to utilise Ai Kamano’s vocals as more of an additional texture than as a method of lyrical delivery, 地図にない街 brings her to the forefront. Kamano has always been one of my favourite vocalists despite her somewhat limited range as her understated delivery is often an effective contrast to the rhythmical chaos that tends to lie beneath it. 地図にない街 is an interesting case in the sense that the song gives off a very chilled, relaxed vibe despite clearly still possessing a considerable degree of instrumental complexity (which is particularly noticeable between 1:47 and 2:17). It is this juxtaposition between these two elements that makes this song so enamouring to me, and I can comfortably say that this is one of my personal favourite songs of the year so far.

 

Finally, ブラインド (blind) constitutes the final song on the single. Anybody that’s been paying attention to the review team’s Best New Tracks of March 2015 thread will have already seen CAT5’s own impressions of this track, and in many ways I concur with his general sentiment.  ブラインド is one of the most catchy, accessible songs in the band’s discography. Yet despite somewhat streamlining their sound in order to achieve this, the song doesn’t feel lacking in its finesse. Quite the opposite, in fact, as it’s this change in sound that helps the song to stand out from the rest of their discography in a way that the title track struggles to do. Kamano’s subtle changes to her vocal delivery, singing in a lower register than usual, also helps to give the song its own distinctive flavour.

 

It’s been a long wait for ハイスイノナサ’s  変身, and though it may only have been a three track release, I think that the wait was worth it. This is a band that simply doesn’t release material unless they have something worth releasing, and it is for that reason that I get much more mileage out of their music than I do out of most other bands’. Though the single as a whole may be a bit of a stylistic regression for the band (noticeably, the IDM elements introduced on reflection have pretty much disappeared from this release), it’s still very much a worthwhile release that currently stands tall as one of my favourites of the year thus far. ハイスイノナサ, esoteric as they are, may not be for everyone, but to put it simply: no other band does what they do as well as they do it.

[CAT5 9075]

Great review of an utterly fantastic band!

 

It looks like our favorite tracks are different, but other than that, my thoughts are mostly in line with yours.

 

I actually felt like the 2nd track '地図にない街' was a bit of a stylistic regression as well...or rather, I felt like it was more of a refinement of some of the earlier styles they've played.

This actually makes me wonder if this single serves as some kind of metaphor for their progression as a band, with each track representing a stage in their sound? Although I suppose that couldn't be the case, with so many elements of their sound not present. Either way, I agree that "blind" definitely stands out in their discography, and as the third track, it makes me wonder if this is a precursor of things to come.

At any rate, it's a wonderful single and it pleases me to say that this is one band that has yet to disappoint.

[enyx 903]

I actually felt like the 2nd track '地図にない街' was a bit of a stylistic regression as well...or rather, I felt like it was more of a refinement of some of the earlier styles they've played.

 

To be honest, I agree with you. Although I found the title track to be the most notable case of this, I do feel that the single as a whole is a bit more of a refinement of previous sounds than say, reflection was. ブラインド is the most 'fresh' sounding song on the single in this regard, but even that doesn't sound as different to their previous works as mirror did when it kicked off the previous single. But like I tried to get across in the review, that really doesn't stop this single from being a great entry in their discography.