Mono: This Album Portrays A Story Bout Parting With The Past

The Japanese post-rock band talk about their just-released album ‘Nowhere Now Here,’ working with producer Steve Albini and their India experience.

- Anurag Tagat

While Mono’s newest album title Nowhere Now Here might evoke a sense of simplicity that’s unlike the Japanese post-rock band’s deeply emotional music, the theme is one of transition. On their 10th album, the veteran band traverse and transcend hatred to find hope.

Guitarist Takaakira Goto aka Taka says over email, “I left a story about regenerating from the pitch-black darkness which felt like ‘nowhere,’ then through dawn, welcoming the new chapter ‘now here’.” Even at the cusp of completing 20 years as a band, Taka says MONO were faced with troubling times, which included founding member and drummer Yasunori Takada leaving the band in 2017. They soldiered on, recruiting drummer Dahm Majuri Cipolla and tapped producer Steve Albini (whose credits include Nirvana, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai) and began work on Nowhere Now Here, which includes vocals for the first time (from bassist-synth player Tamaki Kunishi on “Breathe”) and over 30 orchestral instruments and synth flourishes (“Sorrow,” “Meet Us Where the Night Ends”) across 10 tracks.

Released via Pelagic Records in Europe on January 25th, Nowhere Now Here sees MONO at their poignant best yet again. It’s something they’re backing up with their relentless touring schedules. They’re touring Asia, Europe and North America all the way until June to promote the album. “Now the band is filled with fresh strong energy like we were reborn. We really feel that a new chapter has come,” Taka says.

In an interview with Rolling Stone India, the band’s guitarist talks about the making of Nowhere Now Here, their visit to India for Ziro Festival of Music in September last year and the Japanese music industry. Excerpts: