Originally released in 2013, this fifth single in the Retrograde Single Series features my more acoustic side.
Two of the tracks, title track 「今」 and “Long Distance Lover”, draw inspiration from alt-country music, even if the results don’t sound much like country.
“Long Distance Lover” is a song about infatuation written at a time of great sexual confusion. I wasn’t ready to acknowledge my attraction to the guy in the dorm room next to mine. k.d. lang had released her Ingenue album at the time, and I knew I wanted that twinge of country when I sat down to write the music. It didn’t happen for another 20 years, by which time, I had already been thoroughly schooled in Emmylou Harris and all sorts of alt-country.
“Winter Rain” began as yet another blatant rip-off of Duran Duran, but in revision, I took a far more minimal approach.
「今」, like “Long-Distance Lover”, is my attempt at writing an alt-country tune, so it makes sense for it to be the title track.