As soon as RADWIMPS’s first major-label single, “25kome No Senshokutai” [“The 25th Chromosome”], was released in 2005, listeners were mesmerized by the band’s genuine and candid way of expressing themselves. At the time, they were 20 years old. Having formed in 2001 while the members were still in high school, the alt-rock outfit gained buzz competing in band contests and performing live. But it wasn’t until their third album, RADWIMPS 3 - Mujintou Ni Motteikiwasureta Ichimai [RADWIMPS 3 - Taken and Forgotten on a Deserted Island], five years later, that they got their big break. “Since it was our debut album on a major label, we were very excited and worked intently and urgently,” lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Yojiro Noda tells Apple Music. Noda recalls the high pressure of expectations while working on it: “I remember struggling to cram something like our raison d’être into the album. We completely changed the way we’d been recording up until that point. It was the first album we recorded using the ‘one-shot recording’ method. All the basic takes of the instruments were recorded at the same time, like a live show. It sounds a little unrefined when I listen to it now, but I think it’s an interesting album overflowing with our great determination, ambition, and true nature.” The band’s name was not yet well known in 2006, but RADWIMPS grew to become a major act in the Japanese rock scene following the release of the album. At the time, audiences who had experienced their music talked enthusiastically about the charm of RADWIMPS, and at live shows, largely teenage audiences showed their wholehearted enthusiasm by singing along with the band’s songs. Many of the tracks on RADWIMPS 3, such as “September San” and “Saidai Kouyakusuu” [“The Greatest Common Denominator”], have since become staples of the band’s live performances. Below, Noda takes Apple Music through the landmark album, track by track. “4645” “Since this would be the first song of our major-label debut, we wavered for a long time before settling on ‘4645.’ I was still really influenced by melodic hardcore and punk at that time, and you can feel that in this song. Five years before the album, when RADWIMPS started, and I was in my first year of high school, I was into Britpop like Oasis, and the other members were listening to a lot of Western-style punk bands like Hi-STANDARD, GOING STEADY, The Offspring, and Green Day. The band we were in before RADWIMPS, in our freshman year, also copied The Offspring and Hi-STANDARD in our first live performances. This song is filled with that kind of youthful melodic hardcore spirit.” “September San” “We played a show live at Yokohama BLITZ on September 3, 2005, to announce our major-label debut, and I wrote ‘September San’ to commemorate that day. The band arrangement was settled, but, unfortunately, I was slow to finish the lyrics. I still hadn’t completed them before the day of that performance, so I improvised the lyrics in some places. ‘If there’s a reason you can laugh, I’ll find it for you/What connects us is surely just an ordinary September.’ I remember singing those lyrics because I wanted to convey that to the audience who came to our concert that day.” “EDP - Tonde Hi Ni Iru Natsu No Kimi” “This was the second single from the album. The first, “25kome No Senshokutai,” was more of a ballad, so we released this song because we wanted to showcase the band’s range and stance, although there was dissatisfaction and resistance because the meaning of the lyrics is oblique. Listening to it now, I personally think it’s a surprisingly interesting song.” “Tojita Hikari” “At the outset, this song began with the idea that I wanted to write a song where the bass can’t play the root. The arrangement expanded from the opening phrase that bass player Yusuke Takeda came up with. Even now, I can hear traces of the difficulty I had coming up with the lyrics and melody. The lyrics vividly depict how I seem to be perplexed and fumbling around. ‘I wanted to be born with the name Sukkaran no Koron no Sutten Kororinchon no Pon’— I wonder what kind of thoughts I’d had to arrive at that point. So strange.” “25kome No Senshokutai” “Now that I think about it, it’s not catchy—it’s long and it’s difficult to grasp the meaning. The label staff at that time showed a strong backbone by not complaining when we wanted to release this as our debut single, and I’m grateful. Looking back on it now, there were never any orders or requests for revisions, like, ‘What if you did this here?’ or ‘What if you wrote a song like this?’ They didn’t interfere with our creativity, which is why I think we were able to debut with a mysterious song with a mysterious title like this. I didn’t get good test scores in biology class, but there were lots of topics I liked, and chromosomes were one of them. Even after the debut, lyrics about biology pop up here and there.” “Yayu” “We felt that a song with a jazz essence was absolutely necessary on our debut album. We’ve experimented in several songs after this, but with ‘Yayu,’ I felt we laid a foundation for a version of jazz improvisation that’s uniquely RADWIMPS. The sound pulled out a sharp and scathing character from within me, and I enjoyed writing the lyrics. I remember being really impressed by the response to this one.” “Hotaru” “I lived in Nashville, Tennessee, during my early childhood. During summer there, countless fireflies [hotaru] would fly all around our garden, and it was an incredibly magical sight. There were so many, you could grab as many as you’d like in your bare hands. I think this song started from that scene, like the sound of the opening phrase. While exploring musical possibilities in the studio, I was also experimenting with odd time signatures. It transitions from 4/4 in the A-melody to 6/8 in the chorus. I wanted it to feel natural and, furthermore, to make it work as a ballad. That was the musical challenge.” “Otogi” “As the number of songs in Japanese was increasing little by little, I decided I wanted to challenge myself to write English lyrics for this song. The words have become cliché when sung in Japanese, but in English, you feel like there’s reality somewhere in there. It’s that kind of song. The distorted guitar sounds great—I loved the sound of a distorted Gibson 335 guitar.” “Saidai Kouyakusuu” “I’ve always liked numbers and maths, and they appear again and again in my lyrics. I think this was the first song that created such an image of RADWIMPS. When I first learned about least common multiples and greatest common denominators in class, I thought that this ‘greatest common denominator’ was such a gentle and beautiful way of thinking. You look for ‘common divisors,’ even when they’re not the ‘same.’ I felt there was so much potential in that idea that I wrote a song about it.” “Hekkushun” “This song was written during our indie days. ‘Mixture rock’ [a Japanese term for a blend of rap and rock] was in its heyday back then, so we made our own interpretation of it. While it’s of course unrefined, there’s a lot of interesting ideas here and there. My lyrics at that time were still full of direct anger towards my father and the world. It makes me feel nostalgic.” “Tremolo” “We started this song with the aim of trying to make our own version of melodic hardcore. But as I arranged it, it steadily changed. I remember trying to play the guitar backwards for the first time in my life, and it was so fun, I used it in the song. The lyrics in the beginning—‘Your voice in the whole sky of skies [sora]’—is an error. It should be, ‘Your voice in the whole sky of stars [hoshi].’ But I remember the melody demanded ‘skies’ no matter the cost, so I went with it. Even now, I’m grateful for the people who sing along and accept it without feeling strange or uncomfortable.” “Saigo No Uta” “This song is very simple, like the reason I sing songs. It’s a song I made to remember the important things I unfortunately tend to forget when swallowed up by various emotions. I’m so forgetful, it really makes me sad. This is probably the first time I recorded myself playing piano (very badly). It’s been a long time; I’d like to try playing again.”