THE ORAL CIGARETTES have put the finishing touches on “ERASE,” their first new single since “OVERNIGHT,” which came out in July 2025. This straightforward, powerful rock tune was written as the opening theme for the second arc of the TV anime Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube, and is a bold encapsulation of the band that THE ORAL CIGARETTES has become. Billboard JAPAN talked to the band about what the past year has been like for them, as they came back from a break and started performing live shows again, about what went into “ERASE,” and about their expectations for 2026.

It feels to me like you really put your all into “ERASE.”

Takuya: I watched Nube back when I was a little kid, but when they reached out to us about writing the opening theme, I went back and watched it again. Rewatching it, I found a lot of overlap between the anime’s worldview and my own. That’s what made me so confident that there was no need to overthink things. If I just expressed myself, purely and honestly, what came out would be a perfect fit for Nube. So I didn’t think that hard about it, I just wrote whatever flowed out of me, purely as-is. It felt like the first time in a long time that I was able to do that.

What did you feel like you had in common with Nube?

Takuya: Ever since our band was formed, we’ve focused on the kinds of things that people tend to avoid, instead taking them head-on. That’s also true for Nube. Rewatching it as an adult, I felt like the ghosts or spirits in the story are like invisible presences created by the emotions the students want to avoid, like anxiety, guilt, or shame. The teacher, Nube, takes them on, but that process involves discussions between characters, or between Nube and the ghosts or spirits. I feel like that’s a lot like what we’ve been doing through music.

So that’s why the lyrics to “ERASE” feel like they’re about the world of Nube but, at the same time, the words and message share so much in common with the themes that THE ORAL CIGARETTES has been singing about through the years. What did all of you feel as you worked on the song?

Akira: When I heard about the offer to make the song, I was ecstatic. I told Takuya “I know we’re really busy, but come on, let’s do it.” (laughs) It’s such a relief that the song we came up with is so good. I think we recorded it back in around May of 2025. We were bouncing back from what had happened the previous year, so the offer came at a point when were brimming with enthusiasm and feeling the love for making music. The vibes when we worked on the song were amazing. It’s a new chapter of an anime that we’d all grown up on, and we ourselves were coming back from a bit of a break, so making it was a blast.

Takuya, what was your mental image of the scene where this song would be played?

Takuya: At the start, I used a visual approach, like we usually use when making an opening or ending theme. I just imagined what it would look like and then matched the music up with my imagination. But during the process of actually playing instruments and adding vocals, there was this moment when my mental image switched to the song being performed live. My mental picture was this guitarist who I really look up to, standing on stage. In my mind’s eye, I was seeing him from behind. He was standing on this enormous outdoor stage, and I was watching from off to the side of the stage. He plowed into this guitar riff that launched the song, and I was just mesmerized. It was like I was a kid watching it, and I thought “That’s what I want to do when I grow up,” so I started learning the guitar. It was that kind of mental image. I was there looking at this huge stage, and the scene made me want to put on a show like that some time.

That image itself is so pure. So are the lyrics and the melody. The part that goes “I’m waiting / to reach you/with my very own hands” also feels like it’s about the band itself.

Takuya: The lyrics click for Nube, as well, though. There are a lot of things that the band and the show have in common, so when I wrote about Nube, I also ended up writing about us. But I tried to set that kind of personal message aside. The use of the simple English phrase “I’m waiting” is, at surface level, a reference to the students waiting for their teacher, Nube, but it’s also a reference to how Nube has his own past and his own hero, who he’s waiting for. I wanted to express the hidden strength that he has inside, which you can’t see just by looking at him. It has a double meaning, but at first glance it just looks like a straightforward lyric.

Speaking of heroes, the music video for the song features “heroes”: TOSHI-LOW from BRAHMAN, MAH from SiM, and Ichirock from SPARK!!SOUND!!SHOW!! They look totally different than usual, transformed into ogres and devils using prosthetics.

Takuya: It was a lot of work. (laughs) But this felt like the last contribution to the rock scene we’d be able to make for a while. This year we’ll be touring with other bands until March, and then we’ll be going back to putting on solo shows. We want to make time to spend with our audience and really cherish that one-on-one time. We’ll be setting aside the rock scene for a minute and putting ourselves front-and-center. That’s when “ERASE” will be coming out, and it’s the kind of song that even people who aren’t familiar with the rock scene will hear, so we wanted to make a music video that would show its roots in the scene for these newcomers. We thought about who to reach out to, and were like, “Oh, hey, we know an ogre! Perfect!” (laughs) So when we were drinking with TOSHI-LOW one day, we said “Hey, I get it if you’re not up for it, but do you want to be in our next music video?” And he said, “Sure, I’ll be in it.” I also really wanted MAH, who’s like a big brother to me, to be in it, so I asked him, and he was like “if that’s what you want, sure.” The filming took a long time for everyone, including Ichiro (Ichirock), but they all had fun doing it, and I admire them for that.

You’re kicking off 2026 with this single. What kind of year do you want it to be?

Takuya: I want us to tour all over. When we were touring on a ticket with other bands in 2025, we made a firm promise to our fans that next year we’d be going all out on a solo tour, so we want to put our all into it. In 2026, I want to make time for THE ORAL CIGARETTES, and that includes our fans.

Akira: It feels like 2025 ended in the blink of an eye. In 2026, I want us to use our experience from last year and give back to an even wider range of listeners.

Masaya: 2025 was a year of gratitude and repaying people for all they’ve done for us. I want 2026 to be a year of really focusing on and giving back to our fans.

Shigenobu: I’m looking forward to touring with other bands starting in February, and then when we tour on our own, I want to make time to focus on music. I’ll do my very best to impress our fans even further.

—This interview by Tomohiro Ogawa first appeared on Billboard Japan