Rock band One Eye Closed released a new digital single, accompanied by a music video, titled All of Us. With All of Us, the four-piece wants to show us again that they are open to any kind of genres in their music as this song blends several genres of rock and pop, but also contains some jazzy and funk elements. Although this track seems to be the most poppiest track by the band to date.
The song is easy on the ears and is reminding of the current popular pop music that you find in the music charts of Japan. After the former single, the ballad With How I Feel, the song With All of Us does feel like a warm bath, until you start to really listen to the (ironic) lyrics and watch the music video.
Guitarist None still can go all out in the technical department for the rhythm section, a strong feature in the band, and the bass guitar that provides a funky ingredient supported by the drums, while melodic and clear-voiced REI sings about the pressure to be “cookie-cutter” in society or the music scene. The idea of the video is around a dystopian world in the future where it’s essentially an exaggerated version of the modern world, a society where we’re pressured to be the same, especially from the point of view of the Japanese band.
The music video, straightforward in set-up, the band members are clothed the same in white and are surrounded by walls that are as white as snow, it might be representing the meaning of goodness and innocence, but also perfection. Thinking about the theme that One Eye Closed want to convey with this song to the audience, it fits right in. It is the story of someone who lives in a society where citizens are forced to live 100% according to the norms of that society, including enforcing repetitive daily routines, what they like, and how they should think. One must be perfect in order to be accepted by society. This is where the blindfolds worn by the band members and the protagonist come in.
Hiding one’s face or making it unclear by enveloping oneself in darkness is something they seem to do more often, including in the band photos they have released, but also in other music videos, such as the first singles via JPU Records N.C.H. andWith How I Feel or even in Monster. It brings with it something of a mystery, the question of whether they would like to be invisible or just want people to focus on the music and story REI sings. Maybe it’s both. But in the video by All of Us, wearing blindfolds can actually be a form of not wanting to see the truth or fooling yourself. Blindly following trends and changing yourself until you are accepted, but in the end, you lost yourself in the process. The theme is something that many people will recognise in their daily lives. Does this really make you happy? All of Us is a catchy song to make you think about this topic of acceptance and following your own path.
One Eye Closed shared the process of creation of this specific track. Since the pandemic is still ongoing, the four band members had to be flexible in creating new music and thus they worked on the track individually at home. After guitarist None made the demo composition for All of Us, vocalist REI composed the vocal melodies and decided on a concept to write the lyrics for. After that, it was time for bass player Yasu and drummer Kay to write their parts for the song. Even the recording was done in several studio’s, such as EXTREME STUDIOS in Roppongi and Studio NEST in Chiba.
With the knowledge that this rock mixture band has only started at the end 2019, One Eye Closed have been doing a lot of impressive things in its short existence. From releasing two EPs, titled Cain and Abel, to being featured in the video game No Straight Roads with their track Low, sharing the stage with many well-known bands to joining UK-based record label JPU Records at the end of 2020. That means that a lot more can be expected from this young band in the near future.
All of Us is released as a digital single by JPU Records (affiliate link) on the 9th of April and can be also listened to on the major streaming services.
