[INTERVIEW] 130320 Oricon IU Special Interview - Part 1
Popular singer IU, who reaches out to a wide audience of all ages with her outstanding vocals, has released her first original Japanese mini-album “Can You Hear Me?” A girl whose Japanese seems to improve ‘meki meki’ (meaning ‘quick progress’) everytime I meet her. This time round, more than half the time, she managed to express her own thoughts solidly with fluent Japanese.
Sitting on my bed in my pyjamas to write songs…
Your first mini-album is made up entirely of original Japanese songs. My overall impression is (the sensual charm of) an adult woman. You’ve betrayed the angelic image of your releases thus far (Laughter).
IU: Certainly what I was expecting (Laughter). Even so, there were lots of challenging parts. In particular, my title song “Beautiful Dancer” was sang in a R&B style. It’s the first time I’m singing R&B, so I wasn’t sure how to express myself. I was initially at a loss. Besides, the chorus really appears a lot (I know right… and it looks deceptively similar each time but like the last line would be different so it was really confusing to tl). The chorus was all in my voice and it was like never-ending, it was the first time in my life that I felt tired from singing (Laughter). Halfway through, I felt like asking someone else to help me out (Laughter), but when I listened to the completed song, I truly felt that it was a good thing I sang through it all by myself.
Even a singer like IU with a natural voice talent thought it was difficult?!
IU: There are many times I encounter difficulties. The other songs, “Truth”, “New World” and “Fairytale” were all difficult to sing (Laughter). Each of them was in a style I had never tried before, so I was full of anxiety all the way until I did recording. However, actually once I go into recording, although it’s something major, in the end I have a good time no matter what song I’m singing.
Indeed that’s the power of IU’s vocal abilities, to have a colourful expressiveness to freely change your singing style with each song. Besides, Michael Jackson (isn’t it Janet Jackson?? loll)’s American producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis composed the songs “Beautiful Dancer” and “Truth”, it’s a star-studded team of composers!
IU: That’s right. I was shocked too (Laughter). Also, I was taken aback by the different styles of the 2 songs. Indeed, that moment when I received the songs from Terry Lewis, I was so touched!
Also, this album includes your own composition, ‘Voice-mail’ too.
IU: Yes. So far when I compose my own songs, I’ve mostly gone for a sort of acoustic style, but for this song has a comfortable piano sound with a sophisticated rhythm.
Oh you play the guitar during your live performances, but the piano is the highlight for this song.
IU: Yes, but I composed the song with an acoustic guitar.
Usually what is it like when you compose your songs?
IU: I often compose songs on my bed. Wearing my pyjamas and sitting cross-legged… (Laughter)
You mentioned that it’s easier to compose songs when you’re taking a break.
IU: Yes. For me, I usually write the lyrics first and after that, most of the time I compose the melody for it while playing on my guitar.
So how long did it take for you to compose this song?
IU: There were too many phrases that I wanted to use as lyrics (Laughter), so I managed to complete it in about 2 to 3 hours!
What did you want to convey the most through the song lyrics?
IU: Using the Korean lyrics that I wrote as a basis, a Japanese lyricist wrote the Japanese lyrics for me. The lyrics are about a girl confessing her feelings for a boy she likes through voicemail, but because she’s shy about it, she deleted the whole voicemail recording and eventually ended with her not conveying her feelings towards him… it’s a sad story.
You use the voicemail function on the automatic answering machine too, so are there cases whereby you recorded something and decided to just delete it?
IU: Many times. When I call my friend and I get the answering machine instead, I’ll record my message first, but because I hadn’t sorted out my thoughts properly yet, I’m like, “ah I’ll just tell the person in person” and decide to just delete the message.
You have to leave your message on the answering machine within a time limit, so you just anxiously deleted it?
IU: Ah~ perhaps. It’s good to not care about anything and just say what you want, but when you hear it repeated, strangely you become nervous. For some reason the answering machine makes me really nervous.
Ah~ I see! (Laughter). Also, I noticed that all the other 4 songs are similar in that they end off with a start of a new future.
IU: It wasn’t done on purpose, but I think it matches the change of seasons, and entering a new environment like graduation and enrolment.
Translated by squishy with love
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