Friday<\/a> (July 25). Following the upbeat \u201cNobody\u201d and the cool, mature \u201cInvincible,\u201d the latest track for the series is a soaring ballad that reintroduces the band\u2019s emotional side.<\/p>\n\n\tIn this interview with Billboard Japan, Ryan Tedder, the band\u2019s frontman, songwriter and producer, talks about the different approaches taken with each song, as well as the unique challenges of writing music for anime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tI want to go back a little and ask about how your collaboration with Kaiju No. 8<\/em> began. What drew you to the collaboration between OneRepublic and the anime project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tIt first came to our attention, I think it was 2022\u2014maybe 2023. We were approached by Universal Music Japan Group, our label in Japan. They said, \u201cHey, are any of you guys fans of manga or anime?\u201d And we said, \u201cYes, we are, in fact.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tI grew up doing cartoons and drawing. I used to think I was going to be a cartoonist. Back in the \u201990s, anime was exploding, and the coolest stuff you could draw was Japanese anime. A couple of the guys in the band read manga and they absolutely love Kaiju No. 8<\/em>. So they already knew what it was. Then UMJ said, \u201cthe team behind Kaiju No. 8<\/em> would like to come to your concert in Tokyo and talk to you afterward about potentially writing a song for the series.\u201d I\u2019ve written a lot of songs for TV and film\u2014that\u2019s how I started before OneRepublic\u2014so for me, the answer was easy. I wanted to do it from the beginning. And when they flew out to Los Angeles and showed me the animation, we were hooked and said, \u201cYes, let\u2019s do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tWe submitted several songs until they picked one because we were competing with other artists in Japan and internationally. Everyone wanted to be a part of it. But we got very lucky, and they chose \u201cNobody\u201d for Season 1. That\u2019s how the whole thing started.<\/p>\n
\n\tYou mentioned that you saw storyboards and early footage before you started writing \u201cNobody.\u201d Were there any specific visuals or moments that helped shape the song\u2019s tone?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tFor me, it really started with those early images of Kafka and understanding his story\u2014the idea that he accidentally becomes a kaiju by ingesting a parasite. I thought that concept was absolutely brilliant. His story, and the overall goal of eliminating the kaiju while honoring his best friend and keeping that promise intact\u2014that was the inspiration for the phrase: \u201cNobody got you the way I do. Whatever demons you\u2019re fighting through.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIt was kind of perfect because, in English, the word demons is used in songs quite a bit. In America, we use demons<\/em> metaphorically, like running from the demons of your past or your childhood. And then we also have literal, supernatural demons that people talk about in religion, right? So it was kind of perfect because that\u2019s what kaiju meant in this context.<\/p>\n\n\tRarely can I pull a literal phrase from a TV series or film into a song without it sounding cheesy. When you\u2019re writing for TV or film, it\u2019s really easy to cross that line. For example, with our Top Gun: Maverick<\/em> song \u201cI Ain\u2019t Worried,\u201d we never once mention airplanes, jets, fighter pilots or Tom Cruise (laughs). But for \u201cNobody\u201d and Kaiju No. 8<\/em>, I was able to actually include the phrase, \u201cwhatever demons you\u2019re fighting through.\u201d It was so perfect for the story that I kind of laughed when I wrote the lyric. I was like, \u201cOh wow, this is hilarious, it works perfectly.\u201d So that was really the main motivation: Kafka\u2019s storyline.<\/p>\n\n\tHaving written for films and TV before, did working on \u201cNobody\u201d challenge or inspire you creatively in a new way? Because, as you mentioned, you need to align more with the anime\u2019s themes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tYeah, it was a challenge. I\u2019ve been to Japan more times than I can count and it\u2019s one of my favorite countries. My left arm is pretty much all Japanese tattoos. Japan is very near and dear to me, and I work with a lot of Japanese artists. I\u2019ve even helped develop some Japanese artists over the last couple of years. There\u2019s enough of a cultural difference between the U.S. and Japan and those cultural differences are very layered and deep. There\u2019s a lot both countries understand and love about each other, but so many things are also completely different.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen I looked at the Japanese music charts, I realized that, as an American artist, there\u2019s no territory in the world more difficult to break into than Japan. It\u2019s the toughest market in the world. Japan is literally an island, and you generate so much good music and so many incredible artists yourselves, who sing in Japanese. Unless you\u2019re K-pop, it\u2019s very difficult to cut through.<\/p>\n
\n\tObviously, kaiju and demons and monsters are dark. So I was nervous when I first sent the song. Even for me, \u201cNobody\u201d is a very feel-good, poppy song. I was afraid it was too catchy, which is a dumb thing to be afraid of. They told me, \u201cWe need a song that\u2019s light that feels good and catchy. Because everything else is dark.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBut I was listening to other Japanese music, and I was like, \u201cOh man, I really hope the Japanese audience that love anime, manga and kaiju likes this song.\u201d I was so scared they weren\u2019t going to like it. So I really just had to trust the Kaiju No. 8<\/em> creative team when they kept saying, \u201cThis is the right sound. This is it.\u201d Because I was like, \u201cGuys, I can do five more songs to get this right.\u201d But they were like, \u201c\u2018Nobody\u2019 is the song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tMoving on to \u201cInvincible,\u201d the ending theme song for \u2018Hoshina\u2019s Day Off.\u2019 It\u2019s a poppy and fun track, but also has a powerful message about resilience and inner strength. What inspired the message of the song?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tWe worked on that song off and on. We had the beginnings of it, a melody a long time ago. I couldn\u2019t get the lyric right because the word \u2018invincible\u2018<\/em> scared me because it felt too obvious. I kept telling the guys in my band, \u201cI love this melody, but the phrase we have is invincible, and it doesn\u2019t feel strong enough yet.\u201d All I had was that one word and this little melody. I didn\u2019t know what to do with it.<\/p>\n\n\tThen they presented the film idea to me and the second I saw what they were working on, I said to the other band members, \u201c\u2019Invincible\u2019 is the song.\u201d I knew what to do with that word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tI wanted it to feel a little cooler and a little more grown-up than \u201cNobody.\u201d \u201cNobody\u201d just feels good, no matter what age you are. But I wanted \u201cInvincible\u201d to feel a little older, a little more grown-up, and have a bit more swagger.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe lyrics were inspired by the film itself. And that\u2019s more or less what you are, without being too on the nose. But if you\u2019re a kaiju, you feel like you\u2019re invincible. And for the most part, they are, with the exception of a handful of other entities that can destroy them. So you\u2019re dealing with a character that is, in and of itself, pretty much invincible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tHow did the anime\u2019s story influence the direction of the new song you wrote for Kaiju No. 8<\/em>, \u201cBeautiful Colors\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tOne thing the Kaiju No. 8 <\/em>team told me was, \u201c<\/em>We want something deeply emotional.\u201d We already had \u201cNobody,\u201d which was upbeat and did really well. Then came \u201cInvincible,\u201d which also had tempo but leaned edgier and more mature. Now, they felt it was time for something that gives people goosebumps, even brings them to tears. They wanted to evoke real emotion, because some powerful things happen in the story that needed musical support. That\u2019s where this kind of lyrical ballad came in.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tThe main characters go through a lot. If you read the lyrics to \u201cBeautiful Colors,\u201d it will probably give you a strong hint at what\u2019s happening in the storyline. It was meant to be a complete emotional pivot from \u201cNobody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIt was exciting for me because we haven\u2019t done a ballad in a long time. But in the coming year, we want to release more songs with that kind of emotional depth. We love making people feel good. We\u2019re like the dopamine band, you know? Crack open a Red Bull, have a few drinks, and just having fun. I love that identity and being the artist whose concert leaves you floating on a cloud.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut I also know it\u2019s time to reintroduce that emotional side, because that\u2019s how we started with \u201cApologize,\u201d which is a heart-wrenching ballad. \u201cBeautiful Colors\u201d is part of our return to that space.<\/p>\n
\n\tAre there any musical or production elements in \u201cBeautiful Colors\u201d that you\u2019re especially proud of?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tWe used strings and orchestral elements, which we haven\u2019t used in a while, and there\u2019s a piano part that kicks off the song. I hate to say this, but it\u2019s one of the most OneRepublic sounding things we\u2019ve done in a long time. It sounds like how we started. You hear that piano line and think, \u201cOh, that sounds like the guy who did \u2018Apologize,\u2019\u201d and that was 18 years ago. So in a way, it\u2019s come full circle. If you liked \u201cApologize\u201d or if you\u2019ve been with us since 2007 or 2008, this song is for you. It\u2019s the closest thing we\u2019ve done to something like that.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat\u2019s the best way I can describe the production is it sounds like original OneRepublic, <\/em>but in 2025. We\u2019re not trying to sound dated. You have to constantly be evolving and paying attention to what works. That\u2019s my job as a producer whether I\u2019m working with OneRepublic, &TEAM, or ONE OR EIGHT.<\/em> The songs have to be great and timeless, but the production is more of a moving target. You\u2019re constantly trying to stay aware of where the world is sonically and that\u2019s a very challenging game, but that\u2019s something that I do every day.<\/p>\n\n