Henceforth - Orangestar and Your Future

*Note
This note was written before "Uz" was suddenly posted late on the night of May 22nd. The "new song" mentioned in the text refers to "Henceforth." Well, as always, this person does such unexpected things. It's overwhelming.Uz was posted.

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The moment I started listening, the piano sound brought "Still-GATE" to mind. Included on his 2nd album "SEASIDE SOLILOQUIES," this song has a particularly sharp structure, with the vocal melody making up only about 30% of the total track.

*It has become legally available to listen to for free thanks to the YouTube auto-upload feature.

In "Still-GATE," the eight piano notes that appear after the first chorus repeat until the end, leaving behind an intense sense of loneliness when combined with the introspective English lyrics of the chorus. That sound was revived from the very beginning of "Henceforth." With just a few piano notes and a kick drum that doesn't hide its programmed feel, it was as much an Orangestar sound as it could possibly be.

Before I could even take a breath, IA began to sing "Ah" in a languid voice. The fact that I had been waiting for this voice, for this "Ah," for nearly three years immediately became irrelevant, and I found myself hallucinating her happily spinning words, thinking the belated thought, "IA's voice is beautiful." Yes, IA's voice—especially IA's voice singing Orangestar's songs—is breathtakingly beautiful. In "Sunflower," the first new song with vocals released after his return to Japan,Sunflower he surprised everyone by featuring Natsuse, who has a neutral, husky voice (*), but vocaloid songs had been "on hold" until then.

(*As stated on his own Twitter, "I was playing around with putting music to Natsuse-chan's art and poems, and something came of it. I also had her sing it," so it would be more accurate to describe it as building upon and sublimating Natsuse's original work rather than a feature.)his own Twitter as it says, it would be more accurate to describe it as building upon and sublimating Natsuse's original work rather than a feature.)

The two songs that propelled Orangestar to fame were "Earphone and Cicada Shigure" and "Asu no Yozora Shoukaihan." I believe the reason these were highly rated by Vocaloid fans is not so much due to the quality of the songs, the worldview of the lyrics, or the beautiful illustrations by M.B. in the music videos, but primarily because the Vocaloid tuning was excellent. In the Vocaloid scene, "ease of listening" can be a strength that surpasses hundreds of other musical techniques. That Orangestar and IA are inseparable is obvious (or should I say "ear-vious") upon hearing this new song. Even if there are gaps in the future, I am sure IA will continue to wait under the blue sky for the day she can sing Orangestar's next new song.

Let's move on from the "Ah." Although, this song has an awful lot of "Ahs." In fact, from the first verse to the final chorus, this song is basically composed of two-bar repetitions starting with "Ah." "Repetition" is one of the fundamental elements of music, and its importance is brought to the fore, especially in the EDM-style music to which this song belongs. That is obvious, but here we can also find the theme of "repetition" for Orangestar.

Orangestar's lyrics are also highly acclaimed, and I agree that he is nothing short of a genius, but the origin/foundation of his music is not the vocals. His early works, which have now become legendary albums, "Citrus Harvest Festival" and "Well, That's Why Summer Is...," contain many instrumental tracks.

For example, in the instrumental track "Night Patrol," one can see the seeds of "Asu no Yozora Shoukaihan." For him, music is "the song before the lyrics." The fact that this remains consistent even now, after his two-year training period, can be seen in the five instrumental tracks he has already posted to SoundCloud since returning to Japan. If you include "VOYAGER GOLDEN RECORD," which was moved from YouTube, that makes six songs. I believe that in Orangestar's career, instrumental tracks must be given a status beyond just being "non-vocal tracks."

(Since "CACTUS" uses cut-ups, it is debatable whether it can be called an instrumental track. However, more importantly, it is a very good song, so please listen to it.)

These instrumental tracks are all composed of simple, repeating phrases like piano or guitar lines. "Mizu YoYo" even starts with the repetition of a single sound—the "striking" of a yo-yo—and develops into a song. It is a concise manifestation of the essence of music. I will say it again: music is, at its core, the art of repetition. Even so, I cannot help but feel that Orangestar is more obsessed with "repetition" than just that universal quality. This is symbolized above all by the fact that the new song "Henceforth" is driven by the dynamism of a two-measure repetition that begins with "Ah."

Ah, since you are no longer here, I am walking alone.
Ah, it's better than rotting away, so I am walking without a destination.

Furthermore, in this song, the motif of "walking"—as in "walking" and "don't stop your steps"—is repeated in both the lyrics of the A-melody and the chorus.

Ah! One more time, this summer.
Even if you aren't here, I will welcome it with a smile.
So, right now, you must not stop your steps either.

There is no image here of riding a light truck and moving briskly, as if speeding along the front lines in "DAYBREAK FRONTLINE"; instead, the emphasis is on simply and honestly putting one foot in front of the other. It would not be too far-fetched to consider this "walking" as a physical and concrete manifestation of "repetition." This repetitiveness is also expressed as a temporal repetition within life and daily routine in the lyrics "going through the unchanging today" and, above all, "one more time, this summer." Living is nothing more than the repetition of "today," day after day, and when extended to the scale of a year, it is paraphrased as "summer," the season that symbolizes Orangestar.

In this way, the motif of "repetition" is layered over and over in "Henceforth." Therefore, could this song not be positioned as the true essence and culmination of Orangestar, who has been obsessed with "repetition"?

However, "Henceforth" is not something that can be dismissed with the single phrase of "repetition." Within the repetition, there is change—both continuous and discrete change.

First, regarding continuous change, this is manifested in the fact that the "way of saying" the exclamation "Ah," which symbolizes the repetitive nature of this song, is different every time—that is, its rhythm and melody vary.

The first "Ah" is uttered with a downward gaze; the next "Ah" sees the pitch and gaze rise; and the "Ah!" with an exclamation mark is delivered while looking up at the sky. The second verse is even richer in variation, ranging from the concise "Ah, I wonder if it's painful like this" to a development in the A-melody where "Ah" is not "said" for the first time.

These trivial changes one by one create the ups and downs of this song. If we liken this to the aforementioned motifs of "walking" and "living," it means that even if we repeat similar actions and days, we can move forward precisely because there is change there—is this perhaps reading too much into it? However, there is no doubt that difference and repetition is what drives this song forward.

Not only such micro and gradual changes, but a major change as a whole is suggested in this song. This is presented from the very beginning in the lyric "since you are no longer here." Separation/loss is an example of the most radical and discrete change. Even more symbolic is the line at the end of the second verse's A-melody:

Passing through the long, long darkness.

The phrase "passing through" is repeated twice before entering the interlude, and here, for the first time, he likely uses a build-up, a technique for creating excitement that is synonymous with EDM. (He did not use a build-up in "DAYBREAK FRONTLINE," which is of a similar style.) Furthermore, the fact that he builds it up, inserts a momentary break (silence), and then enters the final chorus follows the classic EDM path. Is it not possible to think that this entire development embodies the lyric "passing through the long, long darkness" that immediately precedes it?

So, what is the "long, long darkness"? Orangestar's music is often discussed with positive terms such as "refreshing," "positive," "sense of speed," and "youth." If we think in terms of the dualism of "light and darkness," there is no doubt that he stands overwhelmingly on the side of "light."

Ah! Because that heart of yours is constantly wishing for blue light.

However, if we simply apply such a simplistic dualism and dismiss him as "Orangestar has an overwhelming light attribute," we will misunderstand his essence. It is necessary to carefully examine what "light" and "darkness" mean in Orangestar's songs. The lyrics of "Henceforth" that left the strongest impression on me contain the following:

Ah, the darkness is just pure, and it is only I who am weak for fearing it.

Yes, here, "darkness" is something "pure." A simple binary opposition of "light = good/positive" vs. "darkness = evil/negative" cannot exist here. Both light and darkness simply exist within me as pure things, and the thesis that can be read from this is that how I behave toward them is what truly matters. This stance of affirming even darkness as equal to light is fundamentally different in quality from the general societal "positivity" that rejects darkness to cling to the side of light.

Given the above, the phrase "passing through the long, long darkness" takes on a completely different resonance. "Passing through the darkness" does not actually mean rejecting "darkness" once and for all to live in the "light." Certainly, one has passed through the darkness once. That is clear from the illustration of the rain clearing up. However, it is not only summer that visits "once more." What the repetitiveness of this song indicates is the very earnest process of walking with darkness while wishing for light.

Walking with darkness. I want to find the symbol of this in the piano sound at the beginning of this song—a sound that has a resonance similar to "Still-GATE."

We can never against the stream, I know

"Still-GATE" ends with these English lyrics set to a very memorable melody. "We can never go against the stream." The words, which can be taken as resignation, refrain, and the song ends with those eight piano notes persistently repeated. The meaning of "the stream" here could be interpreted in many ways, including religiously, but I will not pursue it further. I simply perceive that "SEASIDE SOLILOQUIES" is an album imbued with an atmosphere of introspection and resignation that is the exact opposite of Orangestar's general impression, and that this concept is condensed into these English lyrics.

I want to connect the philosophy of "moving without going against the stream" in "Still-GATE" and the way of facing darkness in "Henceforth" through the similar piano sound. The point is how long this sound continues.

In "Still-GATE," this sound begins to play in the latter half of the song and ends with the greatest sense of presence. On the other hand, in "Henceforth," the presence of this sound is greatest at the beginning, and by the end, after passing through the final chorus, it has receded into the background to the point where you can only hear it if you listen closely. Through the final chorus, which is endlessly positive and refreshing using his signature upward modulation, the piano sound reminiscent of "Still-GATE" that had been quietly playing the whole time is wiped away, and finally, at the very end, the darkness has been passed through.

—However, it has by no means "stopped playing." Passing through the darkness means accepting the darkness and acknowledging one's own weakness. That is why this sound never stops, and we will continue to walk with darkness from here on out. That must be Orangestar's way of facing "darkness" and the "stream," as I mentioned earlier.

In this way, "Henceforth" is a song where the theme of "repetition" is more prominent than ever before, yet it is established by the coexistence of trivial changes, represented by the inflection of the "ah," and grand changes, symbolized by "passing through the darkness." Furthermore, by deciphering the piano sound that keeps ringing against the backdrop of a philosophy that finds purity in "darkness," one can find the true meaning of "passing through the darkness."

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The long text I have written up to this point is, of course, entirely the author's delusion. Also, a lack of musical knowledge is likely exposed throughout. If someone well-versed in chord theory were to speak, they could talk about "Henceforth" and other Orangestar music in a more concise and persuasive way without connecting things that aren't there like I do. So, to be honest, there is more I want to write, but I will put down my pen here for now.

After a two-year hiatus, what kind of music will Orangestar create anew? I, like any fan, have been thinking about this, and this "Henceforth" is a straight, direct pitch. It was exactly the kind of song that one would simply hope for, saying, "I want him to come back with a song like this." It is somewhat perverse that a new song is the "most Orangestar-like song," but it was such a refreshing piece that it simultaneously celebrates and foreshadows his past and future.

The relationship between artists and the public is generally extremely distorted, and the moment a new work is released, gazes filled with expectations, envy, irony, malice, and all other emotions are directed toward their "future." That is inevitable and by no means a bad thing, but even so, let me say this for now.

Welcome back. I've been waiting for a long time.

Thank you for letting me listen to music again.

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Ah, the version of you that first heard that song is already gone, and the version of you that could get so lost in it that the boundary between yourself and the music blurred is gone too. So I walk alone, lining up these seemingly complicated theories, trying to convince myself that I am the one who truly savors his music the most. It's ridiculous, it's pathetic, but this is who I am now. Come to think of it, even back then, you didn't line up words or write for others, but you were still caught up in similar delusions. What would you think if you saw me now? Would you hate me, would you be jealous, or would you think it has nothing to do with you? Regardless, these words will never reach you, so I can rest easy and write them solely for you.

I'm sorry, that was a lie. I am writing this in this stark white space, picturing the faces of many different people. Faces other than yours. Actually, I've done this a few times before. If I bring up the past and frame it nostalgically, saying how good things were back then, the reader will naturally feel something on their own. Seeing that, I told myself over and over again: I would never do this again. By the very fact that I am writing this, who knows how serious I really was.

To the you who is no longer here. Please, I hope you do not stop your journey. You will soon meet many people you can relate to. You will spend happy days. As if you were reliving your youth. And then—he will be gone, and with that as the turning point, you will end one life. But you will fail. It is your bad habit not to see through what you have decided to do, and I hate that about you. But the reason I am writing this now is also thanks to that version of you.

So thank you. Goodbye.

So and so

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My previous notes on Orangestar

The above notes are compiled here.