The Genius Behind King Gnu

2022-10-31

Introduction

Hello and welcome to King Gnu.
As the title suggests, I would like to talk about the charm of King Gnu, a band of geniuses that’s rarely seen in recent years.
King Gnu is a four-piece band consisting of Daiki Tsuneda (Gt., Vo.), Yū Seki (Drs., Sampler), Kazuki Arai (Ba.), and Osamu Iguchi (Vo., Key). They are a band that is currently attracting a great deal of attention for their “Tokyo New Mixture Style” and are taking the industry by storm with their exceptional sense of style and overwhelming performance ability.
Although it is impossible to fully describe what that “it” factor is in drawing people in, I would like to introduce five carefully selected masterpieces along with their music videos (some of them are live videos).

“Hakujitsu” (White Day)

It’s impossible to not mention this song. This song was a major step forward in making King Gnu known to the world.
“Hakujitsu” begins with Iguchi's delicate singing, which grabs the audience's attention in just a few moments.
Then the drums join in, and the song gradually gains momentum, until suddenly a scratchy sound changes the song's expression. The darker voice of Tsuneda leads the development of the song, while the rhythm is jumpy and the wah-wah guitar asserts its presence.
Tsuneda’s part, which proceeds on a shuffling rhythm, is rushed through a bar of naturally added measures, and finally enters the chorus! The two-color vocals that fill the bandwidth leap catchily and impressively, while the drums and bass build a tricky groove in the background.
The composition is so artfully composed that it feels as if everything described here is a spoiler. It is a true gem of a song that is unique in the current J-Pop scene, but it’s also a convincing example of a song that was meant to sell.

“Hikoutei” (Flying Boat)

This song makes me confident that King Gnu is not a one-hit wonder with “Hakujitsu”. It was also the song that made me a devotee to King Gnu.
Overall, there is an impression that the song is dominated by a simple four-strike kick and guitar riff. And above all, the tempo is slow! In this day and age when popular songs have become more sophisticated and faster, the fact that “Hikoutei” became a hit can be considered to be a major revolution.
This song was created to become an anthem. The melody and inspirational lyrics, which can be memorized after one listen, seem to bring the background of the song to life.
There is a lot of sound blank space in the song, but this is due to the fact that it was created with a sound that would be appropriate for a large stadium. In fact, the energy when performed live at a concert venue is overwhelming. I have not been able to attend the concert yet, but feel free to check it out….
When the coronary infection is under control, the long-awaited call and response from the fans will be heard. This is our “life-shaking” song of support.

The hole

This is one of King Gnu's best ballads. Although this song is from an album with no tie-ups or single cuts, it has a strong fan base as it has been performed on music programs.
The piano at the beginning of the song creates a sad atmosphere, which is followed by Iguchi's voice. The song begins as if he is whispering to the audience, and one cannot help but listen to his voice.
The vocalist does not encourage, but he rather affirms, “It's okay to spit it out, it's okay to be upset.” In response, a gentle and loud string accompaniment appears.
As the song enters the chorus, Iguchi's powerful vocals suddenly appear. What is distinctive is the fact that he sings with almost no falsetto, a sharp contrast to the soft voice he has used up to this point. “I'll be the wound” makes you want to surrender everything to him.
This song, which was created after meticulous study of J-Pop, is a work with universal appeal that will always be close to our hearts.

BOY

Produced as the opening theme for an anime, “BOY” is a song that shows King Gnu in a new light. The song begins with a gentle singing voice and light strings. However, the bass guitar, which appeared to replace his singing voice, supported the bottom end of the song, asserting its presence with a fiery tone.
The way the song develops with its moving freely back and forth between pop and rock, is exactly like that of an energetic young boy. It is a masterpiece that truly lives up to the title “BOY”.
In addition to such newness, there are many points in the music video that will make fans of the band grin!
From the very beginning, a gallop reminiscent of “Teenager Forever” will make viewers smile. After that, “SLUMBERLAND”, “Flash!!!”, and “Hikoutei” reminds us of the connection between the songs and the previous masterpieces. I hope you will enjoy listening to this along with the video.

Gyakumu (Dream vs. Reality)

Lastly, I present “Gyakumu,” which was created as the theme song for the theatrical version of the anime.
Iguchi, of course, sings the lyrics that accompany the story of the movie. While changing his voice, he maintains a firm position at the center of the film. The expressive power of his voice, especially from the middle to the climax of the film, leaves one speechless.
Now let’s turn our attention to the instrumentalists. The tempo of the piece is relatively slow, but it is Mr. Seki's drums that give it momentum. Arai's synth bass creates a sense of gravity with its ultra-low sound. It’s none other than the two members of the rhythm section that define the atmosphere as the sections change.
The entire piece is colored by a solemn orchestra, but even within the orchestra, Tsuneda's guitar playing is brilliant. He is a key figure in the creation of this genre-less work that changes roles at will.
The repeated modulations are also very impressive. In particular, the modulation to major chords in the final chorus is a masterpiece. This song is a must-listen, packed with both newness and King Gnu's originality.

To summarize

I hope that you have enjoyed this long and detailed description of King Gnu from a fan's perspective.
Of course, there are many great songs that I could not write about here. There’s still “Vinyl”, which made industry professionals say it was perfect, “Prayer X”, which was the first anime tie-in and was unique, “Awa”, which is a remake of a song from the previous band, “Itto”, which is filled with the coolness of the band. There’s just so much more than I can write here.
I hope to introduce these masterpieces in the future. Eventually, I would like to talk about millennium parade, another project led by Mr. Tsuneda. With these thoughts in mind, I close this article. I have only one request for you. I hope you will take this opportunity to dive into the hype surrounding King Gnu.
Thank you for reading.