Interviews About Albums: Disconnected Souls - Kintsukuroi (2022)

1. What can you say about this new EP/CD?

Kintsukuroi is the culmination of a lot of things for us a project, as well as a group of friends making music. Our songwriting and technical ability have improved since the release of our debut EP in 2020, and despite the impediment of the pandemic, we've managed to buckle down and write quite a few songs which we're proud of, our most recent showing being the release of this single.

2. What is the meaning of the EP/CD name?

"Kintsukuroi" is a Japanese technique of fixing damaged pottery with gold-coated lacquer, to emphasize the object's history in a beautiful way - the word "Kintsukuroi" translates into English as "golden repair". When writing the lyrics, I wished to apply the concept behind this technique to people who are trying to live with difficulties in their lives.

3. Which one is the composer of the CD/EP?

While we all have a hand in composing each Disconnected Souls song, we often have songs "led" by a specific member as a "creative director" so that they can see that their vision of the song is fulfilled. For example, our previous release "Petrichor" was directed by Holly. Kintsukuroi as such is one led by me (Patrick, the vocalist), and it has been a song idea of mine for quite a few years since I first learned of the "kintsukuroi" concept. I don't usually write songs with positive messages like this, so this song took on quite a melancholic sound.

4. If you have to pick one song, which one would you pick?

I think the lyrics of the standard version of the song complete the meaning behind the song, but I've always thought it should be a standard that artists release the instrumental versions of their songs so listeners can hear all the aspects of the music itself, and this is the plan going forward with future Disconnected Souls releases. A full song is greater than the sum of its parts, but I still find it fascinating to hear certain aspects of the song often masked by the vocal layer.

5. Is there a special message in this EP/CD? If there is what it is?

The world can be quite a scary place at the moment, and people are living through their various traumas and depression, including many of my friends, so this song is to demonstrate that despite all the pain that they are going through, they will come out the over the side of it stronger and more "golden".

6. Are there some lyrics that you'd love to share?

Some of my favorite lyrics come from the bridge - "gilded metamorphosis" encapsulates the meaning of the song; through struggle, you should aim to become a greater person than the one you were before and shine bright despite everything.

7. Which inspirations have been important for this album? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thank especially?

The inspiration behind the message comes from seeing countless people living through their individual depression, traumas, and illnesses, and feeling ultimately helpless to tangibly help, so I did something I know I can do: write a song. The concept of this song was also inspired by the song "Never Too Late" by Three Days Grace, a song I adored growing up. They have similar messages, and I referenced this song with the first line of the chorus - "it's not too late, it's never too late" - which are words I live by.

8. Something to add?

Well, in our song "Divergence", we musically interpolated part of the soundtrack to a certain multibillion-dollar movie franchise, as a small easter egg for listeners to notice. We may have done it again with another song from the same multibillion-dollar movie franchise, and look forward to see if anyone discovers it!