Male vocal duo Chemistry has released their first album since resuming their activities in 2017.
The album from the Sony label is titled "Chemistry" -- a sure sign of their self-confidence is that they decided to name the album after their group.
The duo -- Yoshikuni Dochin and Kaname Kawabata -- recently spoke to The Yomiuri Shimbun about the album.
Dochin and Kawabata participated in a vocalist audition show on TV and the two were chosen to form a duo. "Pieces of a Dream," their debut single in 2001, was an instant hit that sold more than 1 million copies and made them stars overnight. In 2012, they took a break from their duo activities to concentrate on their solo careers. The two restarted working together five years later.
Two years have passed since the reunion. They took their time before releasing the new album, as if to check how their voices blended with each other again.
"Before we stopped, we promised our fans that we would power ourselves up and come back. We spent the past two years touring around the country to appear before them," Dochin said.
It was also time to get back to basics.
"From the time of our debut, we kind of broke into our career without knowing anything. Our lives in our 20s were all about Chemistry. There were times when we rushed through things too quickly. It was good for us to go our separate ways for a while. When we got back together again, I was able to motivate myself anew with the thought, 'This is where we started,'" Kawabata said, looking back.
While working on their new album, they were thinking of live performances.
"At the end of the day, it's at a concert venue that we deliver the works we make," Dochin said. "I thought that songs which we can easily bring over to concerts are the most desirable as content for the album."
Both Dochin and Kawabata took part in writing the lyrics for "Get Together Again," the first track on the album. Lines such as "Tada tanoshimo" (Let's simply have fun) and "Bokura no Orion mitsukeyo" (Let's find our Orion), seem to represent their state of mind.
"Angel," a theme song for a TV show, has vibrant energy in the chorus. Obviously, the harmony the two singers create is their biggest asset. Was it affected in any way by their five-year hiatus and the two years since their reunion?
"Recently, I don't know whether it's my voice or Dochin's [I hear] because we both sing while listening to each other," Kawabata said.
"Our voices are becoming similar to each other's," Dochin said.
"In a good sense, we don't think too hard about it, [our voices] blend naturally together," added Kawabata.
The title of the last song on the album, "Still Walking," is also the subtitle of the duo's concert tour that started on Oct. 5. The two will be on the road across the country at a rather fast pace -- more than 20 performances in three months.
"The tour schedule is pretty packed. We can have a good focus on our performance," Kawabata said, laughing.
"I hope the audience will appreciate today's Chemistry," Dochin said.
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