Newspeak on Their Self-Titled New Album and Unique Position in the Japanese Music Scene: Interview

Newspeak, a three-piece band made up of vocalist Rei, drummer Steven, and bassist Yohey, have released their third full album, Newspeak. Newspeak has been praised for its bold, borderless sound, influenced by UK and US rock. It’s drawing attention from all corners, having been selected as an opening act by artists such as The Fratellis and Mando Diao. Billboard Japan talked to the trio about what went into their new album.

Since you named the new album Newspeak, I get the strong feeling that you see it as a crystallization of what you are as a band.

Rei: After we finished our last album, Turn, we decided to work with Warner Music Japan. We were thinking about what kind of album to make next, and our minds kept turning to why we started Newspeak in the first place and why we were making music. We kept thinking about how we started this band because we wanted to make this kind of music and to share this kind of message, so what else could we do besides making it a self-titled album?

Starting with this album, I get a feeling of hopefulness and expectation for the future from you for the first time. The songs are powerful, positive, and energetic. It’s like they have the power to just blow away any uncertainty or worry. I think that you can especially feel that strength in what is, effectively, the album’s first song, “White Lies.”

Rei: We wrote “White Lies” after “Be Nothing,” and the director of the music video asked us to send pictures of times when we found ourselves at crossroads or critical moments in our lives, along with pictures of people who are important to us. Looking back on my own photo albums, I remembered how I felt back when I was 20 years old, in America, looking down at the scenery below me from the top of the Empire State Building. I think everyone feels that way, when you go up somewhere high: “I’m going to make it big!”

That hallmark of youth!

Rei: Yeah, exactly. Like, I had no particular foundation for that belief, just this vague desire to make my mark on the world. I was like, “I’m going to achieve something!” [Laughs] But even now, looking back on it, I feel like that’s the way it had to be. Now, I want to express that unfounded confidence.

The songs are so powerful, it’s like they could rekindle that motivation slumbering inside — tap that well of energy deep within.

Rei: That’s why the album starts with the question “What would you do if you weren’t afraid at all?” That concept is at the root of everything I do, and I feel like I’ve finally been able to express it really well.

Having a powerful will is important for anything you do.

Steven: I like powerful songs with that confidence of “I am the best!” “Nobody stop me!” with no deeper thought, but the songs that speak to me even more are the ones that demonstrate an understanding of the darker aspects of reality. In that sense, Newspeak’s songs, like “White Lies,” are well-balanced, showing that we see the negative parts of reality, too.

Most of Newspeak’s lyrics are in English, and your sound is heavily influenced by the UK and US rock scenes. There’s a strong sense of focus on the foreign music scene, but you’ve also established a unique position in the Japanese music scene. How much attention do you pay to trends or fashions?

Rei: Just trying to revive old music all the time would be fruitless. As a musician, I think it’s important to enjoy music, to convey a message, and to create a new sound, so I listen to new music, and when I hear new or interesting sounds, I try to incorporate them.

Yohey: I don’t just listen to rock. Lately, I’ve even been thinking about going to see Dua Lipa (Editor: She is scheduled to perform in Japan in November). Trying to incorporate every kind of different sound in our own style of music would be impossible, but there are some sounds where I think “this might be interesting to work into our music.”

Rei: We like sounds that are really striking. Not things we’ve heard before, but more sounds like “booooiiiing.” [Laughs]

Steven: Sometimes we use modern synth sounds, but sometimes we go the other way, using old-school drums or old bass sounds. It’s a mixture of classic and modern. I think there’s some originality in that approach.

“Alcatraz” is a danceable song with a catchy melody. The phrase “So many faces and faces to please” stands out.

Rei: No matter where you go, there are always faces to please, whether they’re other band-mates or even in situations like this interview. In “Alcatraz,” we’re singing about how you can’t let yourself always get caught up worrying about that. You have to make yourself happy, or what’s the point?

We’re in an era in which there are a lot of “faces to please” online.

Rei: That’s true, of course. But the message of this song is more about “let’s enjoy the music.” The main message is to have fun and set yourself free.

The song “Tokyo” has a line that stands out: “This city can hurt you or ignite you.” What’s your image of Tokyo?

Steven: It’s huge — I think it’s the world’s biggest city. It’s always busy, and so many people come to Tokyo from the countryside to make money. I think that’s why even for people who love Tokyo, there are times when it’s hard. The song “Tokyo” sends the message to those people that “We understand. We think the same way. I know it’s hard, but you’re not alone.”

Rei: There are a lot of songs about how hard it can be to live in Tokyo, but what I wanted to convey through this song is that no matter what city or community you’re part of, it’s the same. I mention it in the lyrics, too, but we’re using Tokyo as a symbol to represent being a member of a community, so instead of Tokyo it could just as well be London or New York or Kuala Lumpur. No matter where you go, there’s stress. How you respond to that is up to you. You may find your school or your company tedious, but then when you go outside, you realize that you were agonizing over something inconsequential. So what I wanted to say is that all you have to do is just go out. Why are you clinging on so tenaciously? Why do you look at the world like it’s your enemy? I think the same about myself. Just because I’m in Tokyo, or just because I’m in Japan, doesn’t mean I can’t go overseas.

The last song on the album, “Nokoribi,” closes with the line, “A wingless believer on the night before the revolution.” It feels like here you’re singing about Newspeak itself.

Yohey: The lyrics to this song are an answer to the question posed in the intro to “White Lies.” It’s the kind of song you’d expect from Newspeak, but surprisingly, we’d actually never written a song like this. We have a lot of songs that are like “just be yourself” or “don’t give up,” but we hadn’t written any songs that praised the beauty of striding forward. It’s a song with the power of self-affirmation, like saying “we shine because we act.”

Rei: It’s a song about how there’s a beautiful world out there, so why don’t you go set out into that world? You’ve got “Tokyo,” about being stuck within a community, unwilling to step out, and then that’s followed with this song, the final one on the album, about the moment when you finally take that step forward. We thought it would bring the album to a nice close. We actually wrote the song a long time ago, but it just happened to fit here really well, so we were like “Now’s the time to use it.”

In closing, what kind of future do you want to see for the band?

Yohey: I want to play at Coachella.

Rei: I used to perform as a musician in Liverpool, so I’d like to make a triumphant return by playing at the Glastonbury Festival.

Yohey & Steven: Yeah!

—This interview by Azusa Ogiwara first appeared on Billboard Japan