S.S. Hanami (Original Soundtrack)

• Track Listing

S.S. HANAMI is a band from the US that plays theatrical rock very much inspired by J-rock and Visual Kei --a Japanese subculture where-in a band's visual style is an integral part of their artistic expression-- though they don't claim to belong to either category. The band is also influenced by both anime and the accompanying soundtracks. Founding member Robert Adams explains, "I try to write songs that make me feel the same way as the most moving scenes from my favorite anime. We want to convey, through the band's music and presentation, that S.S. HANAMI is as much an anime as it is a band. Our songs are the soundtrack and the accompanying scenes are in the listener's imagination." Just like each scene in an anime can have a completely different mood from the last, the songs on this album touch upon a wide range of emotions and styles at different times -- fun, melodramatic, melancholy. The koto, a traditional thirteen-string Japanese harp, makes an appearance on a couple of songs. "I first heard the koto in the background of a movie," Adams recounts, "I didn't know what it was called at first, but I fell in love with it's sound. I researched traditional Japanese music, got a koto of my own, and eventually found an instructor who could teach me how to play it."