Respire - Hiraeth - Japan CD

Credits:

Respire

Description:

"Orchestral Post-Everything Collective" Toronto, Canada - Toronto, Canada-based Respire, a band that has been on the edge of the fusion hardcore orchestra Emo/Screamo for the past 10 years, releases their 2024 debut album. Based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Respire burst onto the scene in 2014 with the release of their demo EP, Demonstration. Even though it was released almost 10 years ago, at that point they were clearly attempting to approach the Emo/Screamo context and classical/orchestral music, and since then they have been releasing their music on a number of important labels such as Zegema Beach Records, Middle-Man Records, Left Hand Label, and others in the intense hardcore scene. The album "Hiraeth" was released in 2024, more than three years after the release of "Black Line". It took more than three years to complete.The reason it took so long was that some of the members moved from Toronto to Texas, and the physical distance between the two states was a major limiting factor. The content of the album reflects the problems and crises that immigrants themselves face, while at the same time expressing a sense of melancholy for their hometowns and places of return, making it an album that evokes a greater variety of emotions than previous works. The Japanese title, "Lost Nostalgia," is an appropriate description of the album's content, but the songs, performances, and sounds themselves speak more of the melancholy they are carrying and the hope they have for the future than of the lyrics. The band's expression of the meaning of life itself and identity as they go through life has the depth of a band that has been active for a long time, and even the word "power of music," which has been used for a long time, is a big difference from young hardcore bands. Respire has been greatly influenced by the Canadian bands Godspeed You! and Black Emperor, and of course, their love for distant Japan cannot be overlooked.The 2018 tribute album to envy, Envy/Love, released on Zegema Beach Records, includes a cover of "Go Mad And Mark" by Respire, but MONO and envy, who have gained significant international acclaim for their approach to fusing classical music with post-rock and hardcore, resonate with Respire's approach. The internationally acclaimed MONO and envy take an approach of fusing classical music with post-rock and hardcore that resonates with Respire's approach, and the EP "Demonstration" clearly uses the artwork from the Studio Ghibli film "Spirited Away" (English title: "Spirited Away"), which is a reference to the Japanese culture. As "Demonstration" clearly uses the artwork from Studio Ghibli's "Spirited Away" (English title: "Spirited Away"), it seems to be a fusion of various elements based on Japanese cultural values. It should be noted that the band has always emphasized the importance of the message it transmits through its music, so the expression is not based solely on Western values. The lyric card for this album contains only Japanese lyrics, but the artwork, except for the front jacket, has been newly re-edited for the Japanese edition, which also contains a lot of meaning.

Tracklisting:

1.Keening / 哀歌
2.The Match, Consumed / 使い古しのマッチ
3.Distant Light of Belonging / 遠き光
4.First Snow / 初雪
5.Home of Ash / 灰の家
6.Voiceless; Nameless / 声なき声
7.The Sun Sets Without Us / 俺たちのいない日暮れ
8.We Grow Like Trees in Rooms of Borrowed Light / 借り物の光
9.Do the Birds Still Sing? / 小夜啼鳥の歌
10.Farewell (In Standard) / 別れの挨拶