COLLAPSE - "BLACK SHEEP IS STILL DREAMING" Album Review
COLLAPSE
From left to right
Dr：TSUBASA
Ba, Cho：KOHEI
Vo, Gt：SHOKO
Gt：SATOSHI
COLLAPSE is a 4-piece Japanese shoegaze band formed in 2013. Their sound has a strong atmosphere with airy whispering vocals that are magnetic to fans of shoegaze music. Although a band of the fairly new generation, COLLAPSE had already performed alongside bands of the earlier generation like COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS and Boris. Aside from Japan, they had performed in Taiwan, China, and Korea.
COLLAPSE'S album "BLACK SHEEP IS STILL DREAMING” illustrates the perceptions of the social misfits, or black sheep, escaping into the dream world with music and lyrics that are almost as dissociated as reality and dreams.
Every track is like an individual dream, one night after another depicting its own dreamy atmosphere.
GARDEN
The cheerful and uplifting music strongly contrasts with the dark lyrics which metaphorically paint a scene of ending one’s life with blooming flowers in a garden.
The vocals sing gently in the intro,
"And dreaming are needed for relief
……
And dreaming are needed for ending",
which shows us that the voice longs for going into another world, or perhaps the afterworld, but she can only dream of it for now.
And the last lines,
"It's fleeting peace in full bloom
Fades like a flower",
make it apparent that the voice has passed away peacefully and will perish like a flower.
This song portrays the world view that death need not be dark nor gloomy, but can also imply peace and serenity.
BIRTHLIGHT
The warm, uplifting music and gentle vocals give an impression of the hope and anticipation of having a newborn child.
The lyrics,
"You're the sun
You're the scene",
resemble the "birthlight" of new life born into the world.
Then it resonates with the last lines,
"Then I wear blue clothes
You stay",
which I interpret as the parent being the blue sky and the child being the sun, perfecting the "scene" of looking up into the blue sky so full of light.
This song depicts a dream of welcoming a new life into your own.
UNDERWATER
The strong reverb of the vocals and guitar and slow-paced drum beats create a drowsy and tranquilizing dream of slowly sinking into the "underwater".
The airy vocals sing of
"you can live without air
you can stay as much as you like"
which depicts that we are under the water and we don't need to breathe because we are deep inside a dream, since water is a symbolism of the subconscious.
The last line,
"with soft (hydrostatic) pressure",
depicts that we are not ready to leave the water (or dream) yet, because the hydrostatic pressure surrounding us is too heavy to get through, so we stay sinking underwater as much as we like.
This song illustrates a dream where we drift into at times when we want to escape from reality.
DROWN
The slow, dreamy guitars and lazy vocals tranquilize us to lie back and close our eyes as they take us to fade out from the world and drift in the sea.
The vocals sing softly
"I'm so lazy
melt into the void"
describing exactly what we may feel when we want to take a rest from the busy world. Just be idle and disappear from the world for a while or so.
Then repetitively sings till the end
"melt away"
which depicts our perceptions melting into liquid and drowning as we become one with the sea.
This song is another dream we turn to for relief from the hectic life. Just take a break and melt away with the music.
Produced by Yusuke Hata from cruyff in the bedroom and with guest vocalists like ISHIKAWA from My Dead Girlfriend, COLLAPSE’s "BLACK SHEEP IS STILL DREAMING" is more than ready to create a strong wave of impact in the ocean of shoegazing bands.
In my opinion, this album is one of the top shoegaze releases of the year. I can’t wait to hear what COLLAPSE has to bring in the future.
Find COLLAPSE on:
Official site
Facebook
Instagram
Listen to the album on:
Spotify
Apple Music
Bandcamp
Buy the CD at:
Amazon JP
HMV JP
Tower Records
CD Japan
COLLAPSE - "BLACK SHEEP IS STILL DREAMING"
Label: Only Feedback Record
Release date: June 22, 2022
Tracklist:
1. IMPLOSION
2. VERTIGO
3. GARDEN
4. BIRTHLIGHT
5. UNDERWATER
6. SYRUP
7. DROWN
8. epilogue
9. RIP
10. EUPHORIA
11. TSUKI*
12. DROP*
*Japanese edition CD bonus tracks
