Mono's music yanks shamelessly on the heartstrings, exploding in persistent symphonic rainbows like a Richard Curtis film. It's like a psychiatrist standing over a shell-shocked war veteran shouting "Cry! Cry!” I ask their guitarist, Takaakira Goto, what he wants his fans to feel when they listen to his music. He answers in one word. "Joy".
Mono has already had a long career. 2009's Hymn To The Immortal Wind was their 5th album. Everything they release seems to get called "their best yet", and this was no different. After this much time, I wonder what inspires the band to make something so powerful. The answer, Goto says, "is going to sound kind of weird. When we compose, it's like we just have to convert the inspiration welling up inside us into sound. At shows, each band member works together to share that inspiration with the people who came to see us."
This inspiration, it turns out, can form itself into pictures. As the band write, they have those images in their heads. Unsurprisingly, the resulting music is often described as "cinematic". Hymn, however, was the first time they've clearly explained an album's original concept. Its packaging included a short story by the LA artist Heeya So. "Her work's like a strange fairy-tale," Goto says. "It's beautifully simple and pure. There's this feeling that'll you'll never forget it, even after a long time. It became a big inspiration when we wrote the songs."
For the band, the tale has evidently been an integral part of the album. Unfortunately, this is the 21st century, and lots of people will download the songs instead of buying them physically. They won't see the artwork, and they certainly won't read the story. I ask if they're missing anything important. Goto is unconcerned. "People can listen however they like. If they don't think there's any point reading the story, that's fine. If they want to know where the songs and melodies came from they can read it, and maybe feel those images a little more closely."
Another new venture on Hymn was the copious use of strings. They recorded with an entire orchestra for the first time. "With bold, organic orchestration," Goto says, "it's possible to colour the music in plenty of subtle ways. If you combine the strings and guitars, you can make a whole choir of melodies. Right now, it's the best sound we're capable of creating".
He might be right; Hymn To The Immortal Wind is the sort of album that makes you sort your life out. I can imagine it inspiring people do everything from PHDs to the washing up. The next one's set to be similarly stirring. They're writing it now, and it'll be stuffed full of all their "hopes and dreams". It'll certainly include more strings; Goto's adamant about that. "It would be amazing to tour the world with an orchestra," he muses.
With both their records and shows set to feature many more musicians, it's almost like they've morphed into something more than a band. Mono, however, insist that they're the same 4-piece they ever were. It seems tough to put such emotional weight on so few shoulders. They've been sharing their inspiration since 1999, reducing audiences across the world to rapt silence. I wonder how it's possible to keep up that level of intensity. It must be incredibly draining to keep placing themselves in that sort of mood, day after day after day.
It seems there's not even the merest shadow of regret. "We chose this life; we enjoy it very much and we're very grateful. There's no doubt about that."
Mono are touring the UK in June: 6th@Brighton Concorde, 7th@London Koko, 8th@Bristol Fleece, 9th@Manchester Sound Control, 10th@Glasgow Arches. The Koko show will feature the Holy Ground Orchestra.
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Another new venture on Hymn was the copious use of strings. They recorded with an entire orchestra for the first time. "With bold, organic orchestration," Goto says, "it's possible to colour the music in plenty of subtle ways. If you combine the strings and guitars, you can make a whole choir of melodies. Right now, it's the best sound we're capable of creating".
