In this episode, we speak with Mirai Kawashima of Japan's legendary experimental black metal band, Sigh. Extracting influence from classical music, jazz, and even hip hop, Sigh's lyrics and music present a three-decades long exploration of Japanese religious stories, occultism and death. Mirai discusses how his perspective on these themes has changed over time, with his latest album Shiki marking a shift in his relationship to death as one that is more personal and real than ever. As a result, the lyrics for Shiki are written entirely in Japanese language, allowing Mirai to express his "naked feelings" in a way that wasn't possible in English. That said, Mirai also notes freedoms provided by English absent in Japanese, expressing a changing interest in the potentials of both languages over his decades long career.
To see more from Sigh, go to https://linktr.ee/sighofficial
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