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The singer and lyricist nano has released an absolutely flawless set of passionate rock songs on the new EP Anthesis. Anthesis is the perfect merging of emotionally resonant voice, intelligent lyrics and engaging rock music.

「1」

Born in New York City, nano moved to Tokyo as a teenager. Her crystalline voice will be familiar to fans of Japanese anime and video games. But nano has also had a long and successful career as a lyricist and singer. If you are unfamiliar with nano, Anthesis is the perfect introduction to an irresistibly captivating artist.

nano has a classic mezzo-soprano rock voice. But “classic” does not begin to describe what one hears when listening to Anthesis. Adjectives such as “lovely,” “luscious,” and “ravishing” best describe nano’s voice.

「2」

On Anthesis, nano conducts a master class in how to use the voice to enthrall the listener. nano’s vocal tricks include suggestive vocal catches, seductive gasps and provocative crescendos. She also uses subtle slides from a “chest voice” note to a higher note in her “head voice.”  These vocal maneuvers demonstrate that nano has a firm grasp of how to use her instrument.

nano’s musical collaborators are a critical element to the appeal of her music. Melody is always at the forefront of her songs. Forward momentum is an essential element of her harder rocking songs. The arrangements are filled with surprising and unexpected shifts in mood, accompaniment, tempo and musical key. These stratagems are so essential to 21^st century rock music, and to the rock music of Japan in particular, that they are almost not worth commenting upon.

「3」

As great a singer as nano is, she is an even better lyricist. In just a few lines, nano is able to capture the doubt, longing and hope of a young woman in the 21^st century. In “All I Need,” nano sings of her search:

A reason to make my life complete
A reason to set my passion free
A reason to feel this heartbeat
When my world is falling beneath me
All I need is a reason to breathe

But that is not all to her search. nano does not need simply “a reason,” but a “somebody:”

Somebody to make me feel complete
Somebody to heal my pain with me
Somebody to hold me close when my soul is crying inside me
It could be the air that I need
Somebody to take that fall with me

The critical line in that lyric is “Somebody to heal my pain with me.” Not “for me,” but “with me.” With the simple choice of a preposition , nano expresses a very difficult acknowledgement of personal responsibility for her own happiness. nano knows that, ultimately, she alone is responsible for every breath that she takes, the “air that I need.”

「4」

This theme of unfulfilled desire recurs throughout Anthesis. The opening line of the second song, “All I Need,” is filled with a sense of longing:

The night will come and tears will fall
Everywhere I look, the shadows call

Can’t fight the cold alone tonight
Will you hold my hand ’till morning light, oh.

And if you think that the word “oh” at the end of that verse is extraneous, then you should think again. Because nano infuses that simple word with a myriad of emotions – desire, frustration, longing, passion. Yet the narrator of the song knows that she may be expecting too much:

I’ve tried to leave it all behind
I’ve tried to kill the voice inside, oh.

But I’ve cut my heart too deep
And I’m barely hanging on the edge
And I’m praying miracles exist
When I close my eyes and take that fall.

This self-awareness – of self-doubt, of personal responsibility, and of the need for others to help her – is the critical element of nano’s songs on Anthesis. In “LINE OF FIRE,” she sings:

Can you tell me how to kill this beautiful apathy?

Can you show me what it takes to bring back the pain into this life?

nano recognizes that an emotionally frigid life can be “beautiful.” But ultimately, nano knows that a life in which “though I bleed, it doesn’t hurt,” is not enough. Whew. This is deep stuff. As the Judybats, a great, but wildly underappreciated, rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee, said many years ago, “Pain Makes You Beautiful.” nano understands this sentiment and expresses it – heartbreakingly, wonderfully – in her songs.

「5」

The song “HOURGLASS STORY,” which is included in both a “rock” and an “acoustic” version, is the emotional heartbeat of Anthesis:

I’ve tried so hard to see
The good inside of me,

But all that I could find
was the heartache left in me.
I tried so hard to break
The chains surrounding me

To let myself become
Who I was meant to be
In my life.

The phrase “in my life” is the key to the entire song. The narrator of nano’s songs knows that it is her life, her own ability to recognize her assets and liabilities, and her own insistence to make changes to her life that are critical to her ultimate happiness.

「6」

The only problem with Anthesis is that it is too short. Upon hearing the last note of the acoustic version of “Hourglass Story” fade out, the listener just wants more – more of that tantalizing, waterlike voice and more of those piercing, enigmatic lyrics. And it is worth pointing out one more time that nano has an absolutely gorgeous voice.

The good news is that nano has an extensive back catalog. That catalog is so extensive that nano has already released a greatest hits album, titled, somewhat bafflingly, I. And it doesn’t matter if the songs are theme songs from anime or video games or stand-alone songs. Everything that nano has released is of a staggering high quality. nano’s albums The Crossing, Nanoir, and Rock On are all extraordinary pieces of rock art. nano’s vocals are beguiling and seductive. nano’s lyrics are probing and perceptive. nano is the real deal.

ページトップの「日本語」をクリックすると、本記事の日本語版を閲覧できます。

For the Japanese version of this article, please click on “日本語 at the top of the page.