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Envy Q+A

A rare interview with the Japanese post-rock legends about new album 'Recitation', the anxiety of the changing of the season and - yes! - their plans to visit the UK

Envy, it's fair to say, are one of 'those' bands.

They've been plying their trade for well over a decade and, thanks to the fact a) they've genuinely never put out a bad release (and how many bands can you say that about?) and b) they have a very droppable name (releasing splits with everyone from Thursday to Yaphet Kotto), Envy remain one of the few bands who people will always be interested in.

Of course, it helps that they don't do many interviews and play in Europe extremely rarely, but the point is this: you need Envy in your life if you like heavy music. They carve beautiful shapes out of walls of brutal heaviness, switching from sweetly melodic to toothgrindingly violent in an instant but never staying too long in one particular area. Listening to them is like going on a train ride in the dark - you're not in control of where you're going or what's beyond the windows, but you get to where you want to be in the end.

Rock Sound tracked down vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa (and a translator) for a short but revealing interview.

When did you start writing songs for what would become 'Recitation'?
"We started right after we finished recording 6 songs for the Thursday / Jesu split EPs so it was around end of 2008. But we had lot of tours and day jobs so we couldn’t focus for a while so in total it took us about a year and half."

After releasing the Thursday split were you pleased to be able to get back to releasing something alone or do you enjoy collaborating?
"It’s hard to make our own album but we had a lot of fun. I think it’s always important for a band to keep making albums. But [at the] same time it’s great fun to collaborate with other bands too. It’s always exciting to hear what they come up with. I always think it’s a great to share a stage or release with other bands."

Do you have a process for how you write, demo and record songs or is it different every time?
"The basics of most of the tunes are written by our guitarist and then we all build on top of it. Once we get the structures down, we pre-record and then we work on it all over again until we find the right point. Sometimes we even change the arrangements during the recording too."

What was the mood like in the studio when writing 'Recitation'?
"We've known each other for a long time and we get along very well so the whole process was very relaxing. We do get frustrated sometimes, but most of the time we were in a good mood."

How do you choose titles for songs or albums?
"The songtitles always came up on during or after I finish writing the lyrics. For the album title, I always try to capture the image of the whole album."

Can you tell us what some of the songs on the album are about, or what the lyrics mean? Being English I only have the titles to go from...
"'Guidance' is about the anxiety of the changing seasons. 'Light And Solitude' is about solitude but same time the relief of being alone. 'Worn Heels And The Hands We Hold' is a message to everybody who’s trying to live the best of their life. You can read the lyrics and take it as you want. But the basic ideas for my lyrics come from my thoughts and conflict of my everyday life."

The tone of the album seems a lot closer to 'Insomniac Doze' than 'Abyssal' or the Thursday split - do you agree?
"I think we have a different tone from the last album. It’s a little catcher on the melody. We were having fun during the recording process and I think this album reflects the vibe. I think it’s closer to the split with Thursday since we wrote around the same time."

Is being in Envy still as enjoyable as it was 10 years ago when you were younger?
"I still enjoy a lot. The more you do the more broader you see, and you’ll find what you can do more. We do our jobs, write songs, go on tour, that’s our routine and that’s part of our life."

When you look back at everything Envy has released do you see themes or patterns emerging?
"I don’t have a through out theme for all the songs. Each songs are different and I just write what I feel at that moment. Even the songs and albums has different theme it depends on the situation and how we think at the time."

Do you have any plans to tour the UK?
"We are planning to tour Europe before next summer since this album is going to be released by Rock Action again. We are really looking forward to it."