Made up of Moto (vocals), Maika (bass & vocals) and Lily (guitar & vocals), Japanese trio Chilli Beans. have won over many in recent years thanks to their sublime neo-garage output, which blends indie rock with garage infused guitars and catchy melodies. Since 2019, the band has released four EPs and two albums on A.S.A.B. / Avex and played several nationwide headline tours in Japan.

In particular, their sophomore LP, released last year, was a sensation. Entitled Welcome to My Castle, the 13-track concept album included hits such as ‘I like you’, the theme song for the TV drama Time Traveling, Lovers, as well as their biggest song to date, ‘Raise’, which garnered acclaim as the ending theme for the 2023 season of popular anime series ONE PIECE.

Now the fast-rising trio are back with their latest effort called blue night. Themed around the “story of a blue night”, the EP contains nine wonderful songs, including lead track ‘escape’ – the band’s first-ever track sung entirely in English. Set within one night, the intimate and romantic song conveys a sweet tale of two people finding a fleeting moment in the chaos of life to dream together.

Bandwagon caught up with Chilli Beans. to learn more about the creative process behind their bewitching new mini album.

'escape'

"In this song we sing about, the "at least today, I want to escape the world with you," and "at least today, let’s forget everything and let’s be together" kind of feeling. A love message to the time where the two of us share dreams in this little gap in the universe. We wanted to express this song as authentically as possible, using our own sounds and an acoustic guitar."

'yesterday'

"This song is about a girl who lives in her dreams from yesterday. As far as arrangement goes, we wanted to give it a serene atmosphere through the piano sounds, the guitar acting as the red laces that the girl is wearing. With a touch of lo-fi combining with the sounds of a slide guitar, we wanted to make it feel like we can see the dreams of yesterday in the blue night - and so that’s how this dreamy song came to life."

'Mum'

"The production started with a guitar riff. This song is from the perspective of the ones that fail to be cool, written in an indie rock song. It’s saying "leave me alone" to anyone, including your mum, who do not understand the feeling of not fitting in well. While continuing to believe your own hero stays unchanged. Matty from The 1975 is 'Lily’s hero' so Moto brought that into the lyrics which was a ton of fun to make. Also in the main melody, we love the sound of the guitar with the phaser on top."

'夢 (dream)'

"This is a song that was built upon a melody that came during a dream. We tried to put into words the feeling of the struggle between the outer and the inner self. The sound is made entirely with the computer, and it represents a girl whose real feelings are not visible to the others. At first we only wanted to leave this version in the album, where we included some guitar sounds, but in the end decided to also include the solely programmed music because we liked how soothing it sounded, almost like being swallowed by a big far-away space. Together with the "inside ver." please enjoy them as if they were one single song."

'夢 (dream) - inside ver.'

"The 'inside ver.' is about the same girl’s soul, and although it might appear calm at first, it’s floating around fragile surroundings like tightrope walking, unbeknownst to any danger that might be ahead - the danger being showcased here with the guitar. We tried to express these painful emotions through playing over the FX sounds on the guitar. This process was very exciting to us. Using plug-in sounds we made the clean sounds, for the heavy backings we incorporated the Les Paul guitar that we usually don’t play much, and layering many guitar sounds, which took a lot of trial and error. Through that we achieved to make it a three-dimensional sound."

'fu uh'

"This song came from the idea that "sometimes the message you want to convey to the other person is best done without words." In the refrain instead of actual words we put "fu uh" to show just that. Like whistling a song, something you do in your most natural state, the feelings that arises from living your daily life is a beautiful thing. With this song we wanted to remind us and everyone of that.

'look back'

"Even though you lose something very important in your life, you continue to look forward. This song is like writing a letter while remembering this time with wistfulness."

'…'

"Feel free to listen to it and feel and enjoy however you wish!"

'cyber'

"This song was inspired by the manga Dan Da Dan and the anime soundtrack of Cyberpunk. This demonstrates Chilli Beans.’ playfulness really well, we think! We wanted to bring out the MV as an anime, so we asked the talented artist sakiyama, who we’ve been adoring for a long time, to illustrate it for us. The details turned out so pretty and we hope that everyone enjoy it! It’s a piece where we became stronger in our freedom."

Special thanks to Black Screen Records for the interview.