Cö shu Nie, a seeker of sounds a
nd emotions that the world resona
tes with. Their musical source,
and what they express in their ne
w album “PURE”

Humans are not able to put all of their emotions into words. Cö shu Nie, however, is a band that has the skills to sublimate this very concept into music.

Their music is created by Miku Nakamura (Vo、Gt、Key、Manipulator, called “director” by the other members), who produces, composes and writes lyrics, and is expressed through multi-dimensional “chaos”, by bassist Shunsuke Matsumoto, and drummer Ryosuke Fujita. They have garnered a large overseas audience, thanks to them soundtracking popular anime shows such as “PHYCHO-PASS 3” and “Tokyo Ghoul:re”, and that is probably because of the way their music makes you “feel” things other than simply their skilled performances and elaborate song writing. Neither language nor race is relevant. All that you need is to be a human with emotions.

In this interview, we spoke about their first full album “PURE” by exploring their music and their cultural aesthetics. We give you, the reader, an opportunity to take a look into how they pursue sound and human emotions.

Shunsuke Matsumoto（Ba）:
I think that it was because she was playing with environmental music, but since the very beginning I thought her sequences were really cool and unique. Now she’s even working on strings, so the number of instruments she handles is incredible. I think it’s especially amazing because it’s all finished at a first-class quality.

– Can you play any instrument?

Miku Nakamura（Vo,Gt,Key,Manipulator）:
It’s hard to say around the other two, but I’ve been playing in a lot of bands so do I have experience with bass and drums too. But I never played the strings.

– But since you played classical piano, the feel for orchestra music might still be there too.

Miku Nakamura（Vo,Gt,Key,Manipulator）:
Probably.

– Is the melody of a song itself like a musical instrument for you? I got the impression that the melody line is very dynamic.

Miku Nakamura（Vo,Gt,Key,Manipulator）:
That’s true, I might unconsciously be handling the melody as another instrumental part.

Shunsuke Matsumoto（Ba）:
That was something that made her music so intriguing to me. It’s catchy and easy to remember, but when you try to sing it, the pitch is dymnamic, sort of like a musical soundtrack. Director also loves Disney music, so I think that has an effect. Disney movie soundtracks are very catchy and easy to immediately fall in love, but are actually quite difficult to sing.

Miku Nakamura（Vo,Gt,Key,Manipulator）:
The melodies are so beautiful though.

– Similar to musicals or operas. When did you start singing?

Miku Nakamura（Vo,Gt,Key,Manipulator）:
From when I started my band. Until then I didn’t sing at all, maybe a bit at karaoke and in school choruses.

– You also have videos of yourself playing piano and singing on YouTube. Watching them, I was reminded again that the catchiness of Cö shu Nie might be due to the unique effect of Ms. Nakamura’s voice.

Miku Nakamura（Vo,Gt,Key,Manipulator）:
When designing music as one song, I think the balance of sounds within the song is very important. In that sense, Cö shu Nie’s flashy songs and my voice go together really well. Because my voice doesn’t exceptionally stand out, I can express my thoughts even in “big” songs.

Shunsuke Matsumoto（Ba）:
She uses different vocal approaches based on each song, so I think she accurately understands her voice. There was a song called “Flashback” in the demo I received when we met, and my first impression was that the voice and singing wes young and very intense. However, when we released our major EP and re-recorded the song for the first limited edition, I was surprised to hear her sing in the same voice as it was back then. She has a voice that’s not limited to age or period, and I even remembers how to use them for each specific scenario

Miku Nakamura（Vo,Gt,Key,Manipulator）:
It’s sort of like a point of contact between the songs and myself.

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