Ken Hirai Brings A New Feeling With Upcoming Album!

Vocalist Ken Hirai announced that he will be releasing a brand new album, あなたになりたかった (Anata ni Naritakatta), May 12. Kicking off Hirai’s 25th year in the Japanese music industry, this will be the latest album release by the artist since THE STILL LIFE back in December 2016 and is his tenth album overall. The album is set to contain a total of 13 songs, including five new ones such as "鬼になりました” (”Oni ni Naru”), which was sound-produced by Seiho; "Polyester Woman", which was composed and arranged by Kenji Masuda; and "Good night", which was composed by Hirai himself. In addition, Seiji Kameda, UTA, Masato Ishinari (a guitarist who has been on stage with Hirai for many years), and Dai Suzuki (a pianist) are also participating in the album. Anata ni Naritakatta will drop with three editions: a CD-only standard edition and two limited editions which will come with a bonus DVD or Blu-ray. What will be included on the DVD/Blu-ray has currently not be announced at the time of reporting. 

However, as we look forward to the upcoming release, be sure to check out Hirai’s latest music video for “Precious Junk” along with the pre-order links for Anata ni Naritakatta below!

Standard edition

Limited DVD edition

Limited Blu-ray edition

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Anata ni Naritakatta Standard Edition Jacket Cover

Anata ni Naritakatta Limited Edition Jacket Cover

Ken Hirai「Anata ni Naritakatta」

01. ノンフィクション

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by Seiji Kameda］

02. 怪物さん feat.あいみょん

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by Tomi Yo］

03. #302　　

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by Tomi Yo, Masato Ishinari］

04. 1995

［Lyrics : Ken Hirai / Music, Sound Produce & Arrangement : Hidefumi Kenmochi］

05.僕の心をつくってよ

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by Seiji Kameda］

06. オーソドックス

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by Tomi Yo］

07. ポリエステルの女

［Lyrics : Ken Hirai / Music & Arrangement : Kenji Masuda］

08. トドカナイカラ

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by Tomi Yo, Masato Ishinari］

09. いてもたっても

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by UTA (TinyVoice Production)］

10. 知らないんでしょ？

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by Seiji Kameda］

11. 鬼になりました

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by Seiho］

12. half of me

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Sound Produced & Arranged by Seiji Kameda］

13. おやすみなさい

［Lyrics & Music : Ken Hirai / Arranged by Masaru Suzuki］

Ayumi Hamasaki Releases the Monster With Latest Single!

“23rd Monster” Jacket Cover

To honor her 23rd anniversary in the Japanese music industry, mega star Ayumi Hamasaki dropped a brand new single, “23rd Monster”, across all digital music streaming platforms. This is the latest release by Hamasaki since her best-of album A BALLADS 2 back in March and is her first single release of 2021. ”23rd Monster" is a rock number composed by Kazuhiro Hara that entices listeners with impressive, powerful lyrics with the message "You decide your own way". At the same time as the streaming release, the teaser of the track’s music video was released on Hamasaki’s YouTube channel. In the video, a dancer is seen moving aggressively around a monitor with a mysterious countdown and a large egg.

Be sure to check out “23rd Monster” on all digital streaming platforms here, along with the teaser for the music video below!

GENIC’s ‘Fruits Basket: The Final’ Ending Theme, ‘Haru Urara’, gets New Music Video Featuring Scenes from the Anime!

Fruits Basket: The Final
Image Provided by © NATSUKI TAKAYA.HAKUSENSHA/FRUITS BASKET PROJECT

“Haru Urara”, the ending theme song to TV anime Fruits Basket: The Final, has a new music video that features gorgeous scenes and illustrations from the anime. The song by GENIC is a mid-tempo ballad that is ideal for the arrival of spring, with positive messages about friendship and making a new start. Its title roughly translates as ‘Springtime Vibes’.

The video is based on the ending visuals from the anime, and includes illustrations by Natsuki Takaya, the creator and author of the original ‘Fruits Basket’ manga, who is also supervisor of the animated series. Takaya’s evocative character illustrations leave a warm, endearing feeling.

GENIC have also uploaded a video to their official YouTube account titled “Team Contest!! King Atsuki Final Battle!!”, in which the group’s members compete to prove who knows the most about fellow member Atsuki Mashiko. The video gives an insight into the close relationship shared by the members of GENIC, as part of their GENIC HOUSE series. On social media, fans made comments such as “Isn't this video too awesome?!”, “I was waiting for this!” and “Airheaded Atsuki is the best”.

Be sure to check out the loving video below!

KARI BAND Brings the Jams with Latest Live Session Video!

KARI BAND have released a video to “愛の重力 (“Ai no Jyuryoku”) the final track of their upcoming double live album KARI BAND with Friends.-Live at Streaming-, out 30 April from our friends at JPU Records. The album collates three of their epic prog-rock live sessions and features several prominent jazz, funk and metal musicians from Japan as special guests.

This new live video is what the band is calling a "Back to the 90's Lo-Fi" cover of the track. The song was originally performed by popular anime voice actress Megumi Nakajima (having starred in Pokémon, Fairy Tail, Macross Frontier) and written by Tatsuya Nishiwaki, who joins KARI BAND for this live session, and the majority of the album.

The song's vocal melody is beautifully captured by saxophonist Yucco Miller. She was a pupil of Eric Marienthal (Chick Corea Elektric Band), released her debut album in 2016, and has performed with Candy Dulfer, Glenn Miller Orchestra and Eric Marienthal.

Joining the rhythm section for this track is guitarist Satoshi Oka, a pupil of KARI BAND’s much celebrated late guitarist and founding member, Mikio Fujioka.

Be sure to check out the live session for “AI no Jyuryoku” below, and order the live album from our friends at JPU Records here!

AmPm Enlist Indonesian Star Producer Dipha Barus for ‘On The Black and White’ Remix!

“On The Black and White feat. Doul (Dipha Barus Remix)” Digital Jacket Cover

When Japanese masked production duo AmPm released their debut track “Best Part of Us feat. Michael Kaneko” in March 2017, it instantly exposed them to a huge global audience. They release their latest single, “On The Black and White feat. Doul (Dipha Barus Remix)” across all digital music streaming platforms.

The track is a brand new version of AmPm’s January 2021 release “On The Black and White” featuring breakthrough singer Doul, who appeared on Spotify’s official ‘RADAR: Early Noise 2021’ playlist. It has been remixed by Indonesia’s leading producer, Dipha Barus, who has taken the emotional core of the original version and reworked into an even more danceable sound. The release is accompanied by a brand new music video. Like the song, the video is a remix too, taking visuals from the original version and reimagining them with a new vibrant, rhythmic style for an immersive new experience.

Message from Dipha Barus
“It is my absolute honor and pleasure to have been asked to remix “On The Black and White” for my AmPm brothers. I am so grateful to have crossed path with them back in 2017, where we performed on the same stage and have kept in touch ever since. It has truly been an enjoyable experience for me to have worked on the remix, and I believe to have delivered my best during the production. I hope my brothers are happy with the result and hope to perform with them again in the near future – as soon as this is all over!”

Message from AmPm

“We performed with Dipha at the Spotify On Stage festival in Indonesia in 2017, and we have continued to keep in touch. His songs are unique and they convey his identity as an Indonesian artist, so we have a great deal of respect for him. We have been very keen to work together with him someday. We have sometimes thought about asking other artists to remix our songs, but we felt he was the only choice for our very first remix. This was our first time to hear one of our songs reshaped by somebody else’s hands, and the results were even better than we had expected – we’re so excited! We can’t wait till the day we can perform together again.”

Be sure to check out the music video for the amazing remix below, along with the digital streaming link here!