土斷

厭倦了，之後呢？ 我們看了很多人表達著自己對於世界的厭倦：身處異鄉、流離失所、理想與現實斷裂。於是我們要問一個問題：除了展露疲憊，我們可以如何透過音樂處理它？ 這張作品試圖回答著這個問題，而我們的答案是「土斷」。土斷的意涵並不僅止於字面上，人與泥土的斷裂，也是是歷史上，把外來移民編入當地戶籍的行動。異鄉的出現是故鄉的離異，失落是出自於想像與實際的落差。在我們對於眼前世界感到失望的同時，也得漸漸接受這些離散與距離感，是生命意識必然的一部份。與其閃躲，不如真切的擁抱心理的失落，學習與痛苦共處，然後把眼界從對於遠方虛幻的期待，拉回自己最單純的存在：雙腳站立著的現在。 於是我們繼續眺望旭日東昇、迎著冬季必然到來的東北季風、面對著自己腦內血清素的失調、不斷地逐水草而居。正是因為失去了名為故鄉的神話，我們才得以存在於每一個當下，自由地選擇下一個應許之地的方向。 “In a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger.” —Albert Camus We are The Strangers, a post-rock band based in Takao, Taiwan. Our works explore the disconnection between selves and the world. Imaginative Habitation is our second album. It aims to look into the relation between our living habitat and ourselves during alienation and banishment. Four songs included in this album express four aspects of imaginative habitation. “Kyokujitsu,“ or dawn, and “Northeast Monsoon,” stand for two inevitable phenomenas of our surroundings: warmth and coldness. “Serotonin” describes mental disorientation, whereas “Migration” demonstrates one’s physical unsettlement. For a person in exile, the concept “home” is not inherited nor defined, but rather, imagined. Instead of pursuing unpromising myths and kingdoms, we say embrace now, enjoy pain, acknowledge our existence, and imagine our very stepping ground as our promised land.