Fans of the early work from ENVY who grew up on their earlier albums likely hoped for a return to their heavier roots and might be disheartened to find instead another dose of Japan’s unique take on nostalgic, sorrow-filled post-rock.
However, this is far from disappointing news, as the band excels in this style, continually evolving it to deliver epic experiences.
Japanese post-rock/hardcore/shoegazers ENVY are planning to release their eighth album in October. Titled Eunoia, the project follows 2022’s Seimei and features a thunderous lead single, “Beyond The Raindrops,” which ENVY have already shared on Bandcamp and other streaming services.
“The concept of creating the album was to honestly face our own powerlessness,” founding ENVY member Nobukata Kawai said in a statement. “Searching for a little hope, and recording the emotions gained from daily life in a diary-like manner. Even without explaining the songs, Tetsu’s lyrics were wonderful and added depth to the piece. It has been six years since the member line-up changed, and the good relationship of trust has been strongly reflected in the work.”
Packed with an abyssal emotional depth and an increasingly eclectic (and seemingly inexhaustible) well of ideas, Eunoia is ENVY’s most efficiently impactful album of their unbelievably lengthy career.
A major personnel shift in 2018 threatened the very existence of ENVY, but it instead inspired enormous growth and reinvigorated the band on their second album together with this new line-up.
As founding member and songwriter Nobukata Kawai explains: “The concept of creating the album was to honestly face our own powerlessness. Searching for a little hope, and recording the emotions gained from daily life in a diary-like manner. Even without explaining the songs, Tetsu’s lyrics were wonderful and added depth to the piece. It has been six years since the member line-up changed, and the good relationship of trust has been strongly reflected in the work.”
ENVY are an underground institution that has literally inspired entire sub-genres of music. Their creative and cultural influence is undeniable, and their legacy was cemented long ago. The fact that they’re still breaking new ground more than three decades in is a testament to the unique and extraordinary power and pull of ENVY, and Eunoia emits that power and pull with the natural weight and wonder of a total eclipse.
ENVY’s Eunoia tracklist:
1. Piecemeal
2. Imagination and Creation
3. The Night and the Void
4. Beyond the Raindrops
5. Whiteout
6. Lingering Light
7. Lingering Echoes
8. January’s Dusk
Eunoia releases on October 11, 2024, via Temporary Residence/Pelagic Records.
