Ever since ELLEGARDEN went on hiatus and Hosomi Takeshi formed a new band with a name suitable of depicting the situation, it seems that previous fans have never stopped comparing both bands. Even at the live I went, I could spot some people in ELLEGARDEN shirts. Many have yet to understand that while both ELLEGARDEN and the Hiatus has the same person steering the musical ship, they are 2 totally different bands, and thus, should not be placed against each other for comparison.
When I first looped through the songs on the Insomnia EP, I was blown away. Never had I expected such a drastic change from the guy who once wrote punk rock. It was no longer punkish, but rather, music nearing the borderlines of genres such as post-rock and shoegaze. Of course, post-rock and shoegaze wouldn’t exactly be a fitting categorisation, but the songs emitted the vibes I would usually get from tuning in to music ranging from toe and mono to sleepy.ab and THE NOVEMBERS.
In Insomnia, you can see that Takeshi’s vocals have matured to a next level. Hearing him sing “Save Me” in the chorus sends chills down my spine. Emotions of desperation that can be derived from the song has been greatly expressed from the vocals and the darker and more matured sound. Also, the clash between the violins and the electric guitar is simply magnificent.
Curse of Mine was a song which I took quite a while to get used to. Unlike the other 2 songs in the EP, it’s much more complicated sounding, making it hard to stomach for easy listening. This is particularly true towards the end of the song, past the 2:30 mark. For those who have not been listening to post-rock or shoegaze, it might sound like irritating on the first listen, but you’ll get used to it eventually.
Antibiotic has really nice drums. When I first heard it before it was released, at the live performance, the first thing which I noticed was the drums. Gazing down from 2nd floor at the band playing, I was instantly captivated by the drum beats. Also, the keyboard plays a different role from the usual songs. Instead of adding a pop-ish, upbeat sound, it compliments the drum beats to produce a really fuzzy, calming effect.
From the way I hear it, the HIATUS has been a successful project for Takeshi to expand his musical boundaries and experiment on new styles, styles unlike the punk rock sound that described ELLEGARDEN. Hate me if you will, ELLEGARDEN fans, but with the release of the Insomnia EP, I feel that the hiatus has been beneficial for Takeshi. The EP proves to be some of his best work I’ve heard so far. Hopefully, more of such music will be produced in the future.
Fans of post-rock, shoegaze, and other similar genres of music should give Insomnia a try if you have yet to do so, as you’ll probably fall for it. Insomnia isn’t for everyone though, as many of those accustomed to the old ELLEGARDEN sound might find it hard to swallow a drastic change in musical direction as witnessed in this EP.
Definitely my kind of music.
Musical genres nowadays are ever expanding and cross-contaminating, which is a good thing. Heard some influences from broken-beat, jazz and trip hop amongst others as well from the clip.
You should check out their 1st album, Trash We’d Love. It has a more poppy feel as compared to the songs on Insomnia, but it’s still good stuff.