Respire - "Hiraeth / 失われた郷愁" (CD)

*Released on 11/01/2024

“Orchestral Post-Everything Collective”
Toronto, Canada's Respire fuses together an intense hardcore orchestra
A 2024 album from a band that has been on the edge of the Emo/Screamo scene for a decade.

Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Respire burst onto the scene in 2014 with the release of their demo EP, Demonstration. Even though it was released almost 10 years ago, at that point they were clearly attempting to approach the Emo/Screamo context and classical/orchestral music, and since then they have been releasing their music on Zegema Beach Records, Middle-Man Records, Left Hand Label, and other intense hardcore scenes. The band's “Black Line,” released in 2020, was the culmination of their work up to that point, and gained an even wider audience.

Released in 2024, “Hiraeth” has taken more than three years to produce since then. Some of the members moved from Toronto to Texas, and the physical distance between the two states was a major factor in the length of time it took to complete the work. The content of the album reflects the problems and crises that immigrants themselves face, while at the same time expressing a sense of melancholy for their hometowns and places of return, making it an album that evokes a wider range of emotions than previous works. The Japanese title, “Lost Nostalgia,” is an appropriate description of the album's content, but the songs, performances, and sounds themselves speak more of the melancholy they are carrying and the hope they have for the future than of the lyrics. The band's expression that delves into the meaning of life itself and identity as they go through life has the depth of a band that has been active for a long time, and even the word “power of music,” which has been used for a long time, makes us feel again.

Respire is heavily influenced musically by Godspeed You! Black Emperor in his home country of Canada, of course, but his love for distant Japan is not to be overlooked. The envy tribute album “Envy/Love,” released on Zegema Beach Records in 2018, includes a cover of “Go Mad And Mark” by Respire, but MONO and envy, who have received great acclaim overseas, have taken a more classical approach to post-rock and hardcore, fusing them with classical music. The internationally acclaimed MONO and envy take an approach of fusing classical music with post-rock and hardcore that resonates with Respire's approach, and the EP “Demonstration” clearly uses the artwork from the Studio Ghibli film “Spirited Away” (English title: “Spirited Away”), which is a reference to the Japanese culture. As “Demonstration” clearly uses the artwork from Studio Ghibli's “Spirited Away” (English title: “Spirited Away”), it seems to be a fusion of various elements based on Japanese cultural values. It should be noted that the band has always emphasized the importance of the message it transmits through its music, so the expression is not based solely on Western values. The lyric card for this album contains only Japanese lyrics, and the artwork, except for the front jacket, has been newly re-edited for the Japanese edition, which is also very meaningful.

tracklist:
1. Keening / 哀歌
2. The Match, Consumed / 使い古しのマッチ
3. Distant Light of Belonging / 遠き光
4. First Snow / 初雪
5. Home of Ash / 灰の家
6. Voiceless; Nameless / 声なき声
7. The Sun Sets Without Us / 俺たちのいない日暮れ
8. We Grow Like Trees in Rooms of Borrowed Light / 借り物の光
9. Do the Birds Still Sing? / 小夜啼鳥の歌
10. Farewell (In Standard) / 別れの挨拶