Luna's Ongaku Go For September 2021!

Picking up after Ken, we’re another month into 2021 and we at OTY would like our readers to know what was filling our ears for the past month. Each track is available across all digital music streaming platforms with Apple Music featured on this site.

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“JUST ONE KISS” by AISHA

The first time I heard “JUST ONE KISS,” I was hooked instantly as it starts out with this funky beat that has an 80s vibe to it. The chorus is very catchy from the lyrics to the composition. “JUST ONE KISS” is one of those tracks that makes you want to move around and dance to. AISHA’s ability to switch between English and Japanese in this track is so fluid and makes for a fun, cute song for anyone to enjoy. Despite summer being over, “JUST ONE KISS” will remain on repeat as it brings a great vibe all year round.

Check out “JUST ONE KISS” here and the music video below!

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“IN THE MIDDLE” feat. Daichi Miura by AI

When I saw that AI and Daichi Miura were doing a collaboration song, I was very excited, and it did not disappoint. “IN THE MIDDLE” is a powerful track that is hard to describe as some parts of it has this power ballad momentum and some parts of it is a mid-tempo track. I love how the composition works and follows with how this track changes throughout. AI and Daichi’s voices work together so well with their back in forth and when they harmonize. You can hear the rhythm, blues, and soul in “IN THE MIDDLE.”

Check out “IN THE MIDDLE” here and the music video below!

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“Hana no Youni” by eill

eill has been proving herself to becoming one of my favorite singer-songwriters as of late. “Hana no Youni” is another outstanding track that shows off eill’s vocal capabilities along with her songwriting skills. This track is different from “hikari” as it is more of a mid-tempo style ballad. The composition is very beautiful and sticks with you as do the lyrics. The opening piano pull you in immediately and it continues throughout the song and makes you enjoy the beauty.

Check out “Hana no Youni” here and the music video below!

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“GO” by Ai Otsuka

When I saw Ai Otsuka released a new track, I was excited to say the least. “GO” has exceeded my expectations and became one of my favorite tracks of the month. The composition is fantastic; it starts off slower with a piano as its opening base and when it gets to the chorus it picks up. From there on, it maintains a consistent tempo for most of the track. Ai Otsuka’s voice shines in “GO”, which is one of the reasons I gravitated toward it immediately. She resonates powerful vocals as she does in her ballads but with an upbeat poppy style sound.

Check out “GO” here and the music video below!

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“CHU-HI” by MIYACHI

This is easily my track of the month as it has been on repeat since it dropped on August 20th. “CHU-HI” is a drinking song, hence the name (CHU-HI is a mixed beverage with over 9% alcohol in it). This song reminds me of my time in Japan and going to the Famima (Family Marts) and Maru-K (Circle-K)’s. To me, this brings back good memories with friends and fun times. The lyrics are explicit, however, I find them fun and extremely catchy. The chorus is one of my favorite parts, but the verses are also easy to sing along with as well. The opening is a little hard for those who don’t like Western rap to get into, however, it fits so well with the composition and MIYACHI knows how to make English and Japanese blend so perfectly together, it is flawless.

Check out “CHU-HI” here and the music video below!

Yui Makino Teams Up with ARIA The BENEDIZIONE to Cast A New Release!

ARIA The BENEDIZIONE

ARIA The BENEDIZIONE, the latest and final chapter of the ARIA series, will be out on December 3. Yui Makino, who sang the opening theme “Undine” for the original ARIA The ANIMATION, will be returning to sing the opening and ending theme songs for ARIA The BENEDIZIONE. The opening theme, which is composed and arranged by Mina Kubota, is titled “Espero.” The ending theme is a newly recorded version of “Undine,” titled “Undine ～2021 edizione～”

Choro Club’s Shigeharu Sasago and Jyoji Sawada, who have handled the music of the ARIA series for many years, also participated in the recordings for “Espero” and the new “Undine,” making this a culmination of 16 years of ARIA music.

And, for the first time in 13 years, a completely new soundtrack featuring music from both ARIA The CREPUSCOLO and ARIA The BENEDIZIONE will be released on the same day!

This album will be handled by Choro Club feat. Senoo. It will contain two insert songs from ARIA The CREPUSCOLO: “Coccolo” and “Barcarolle”. Both feature vocals left behind by the late Eri Kawai (the singer for Athena), as well as vocals and music by Ryo Hirohashi (the voice actress for Alice). These two songs have been revived as completely new versions.

As we look forward to the new releasing be sure to pre-order both “Espero” and ARIA The CREPUSCOLO & ARIA The BENEDIZIONE Original Soundtrack Quattro below!

Espero

ARIA edition

YUI edition

ARIA The CREPUSCOLO & ARIA The BENEDIZIONE Original Soundtrack Quattro

Standard edition

Yui Makino 「Espero」 (ARIA The BENEDIZIONE Opening Theme Song)

ARIA Edition

1. Espero

2. Undine ～2021 edizione～

3. Espero ~cinema ver.~

4. Espero (w/o Yui)

5. Undine ～2021 edizione～(w/o Yui)

YUI Edition

1. Espero

2. Undine ～2021 edizione～

Plus another new song by Yui Makino and karaoke tracks without her.

ARIA The CREPUSCOLO & ARIA The BENEDIZIONE Original Soundtrack Quattro

1. Neo Venezia no Aki

2. Akogare

3. Itazura na Tameiki

4. Hakubo

5. Waki Yaku De Iikara

6. Tsuioku no Dolce ～Canal Grande～

7. Christmas-doori

8. Nayameru Undinetachi

9. Tsuioku no Dolce ～Canal Cafe Pianoforte～

10. Tayutau Shikisai ～La Strada per Bosa～
11. Shukusai no Maku ga Aku

12. Yume no Kizahashi

13. Coccolo ～2 pianos version～

14. Barcarolle ～orchestra version～

15. Umizoi no Fuyu

16. Kazemakase 

17. Hon no Sukoshi Dake

18. Ari no Mamade

19. Mattari Tea Time

20. Zeitaku na Yuutsu

21. Bonbori

22. Shinjiru Kimochi

23. Itsuka Miageta Sora e

24. Gondola no Maho

25. Fuyu no Sekai ～Fiocco di Neve～

26. Tabidachi no Sora ～ARIA Forever～

27. Akogare ～Winter Promenade Pianoforte～ 

Kiyotaka Sugiyama and Omega Tribe Kicks Off Their 40th Anniversary with A Visit to AQUA CITY!

The long running band Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe, who were active and very popular around the 80s, will celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2023.

Tetsuji Hayashi is a composer who created many hit songs and is one of the key figures of  the music scene in the 80s. He made a recent revival hit song, “Mayonaka no Door/Stay with Me” by Miki Matsubara. With Hayashi’s direction, Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe,The 40th anniversary project has started by remixing original songs with the latest technology. As a first project, AQUA CITY ,which is a remix of their debut album AQUA CITY, has been released the past week across all digital music streaming platforms.

Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe made their major debut in April 1983 with the single, “SUMMER SUSPICION”, from the record label VAP. Summer, sea and resorts are main themes of the band and their hit songs are well known inside and outside of Japan as “summer songs” and in the genre of city pop.

After the band released 7 single vinyls and 5 albums, they moved on to forming the successor band, 1986 Omega Tribe was born with new singer, Carlos Toshiki. 

The album cover of this new album is a remix version of the original so it is very familiar to the people who know the original album. And the song “SUMMER SUSPICION”, which is remixed by Tetsuji Hayashi, was specially included as a bonus track. So old fans who know the original album can enjoy this new addition in the tracklist.

Furthermore, special websites, official Twitter of the 40th anniversary, and the official Facebook are all open! All latest news will be updated frequently and special content like the band's interview are planned to be released on a special site and be sure to check out AQUA CITY REMIX here!

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AQUA CITY REMIX Jacket Cover

Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe『AQUA CITY REMIX』

1. SUMMER SUSPICION

2. PADDLING TO YOU

3. MIDNIGHT DOWN TOWN

4. LIGHT MORNING

5. UMIKAZE TSUSHIN

6. TRANSIT IN SUMMER

7. TRADE WIND

8. SEXY HALATION

9. ALONE AGAIN

10. SUMMER SUSPICION　Re-Arranged ver.

BE:FIRST Brings A Brand New Gift with Major Label Debut Single!

Seven-member dance and vocal group BE:FIRST were born from THE FIRST, the million-dollar audition series created and funded by artist SKY-HI and his company BMSG.

Their pre-debut song “Shining One“ has exceeded 15 million views on YouTube since its August 16 release, despite coming before their official major-label debut. The track also topped two different rankings at once in the Oricon weekly charts, and spent two weeks at No.1 on Billboard Japan’s HOT BUZZ SONG chart. With all of this incredible momentum, it has been announced that BE:FIRST will make their official major-label debut with the release of new single “Gifted.” on November 3.

Comment from SKY-HI

“The title of the single ‘Gifted.’ literally means ‘to bear natural talent’, and it is a reference to the strong attitude of BE:FIRST’s members of feeling that they themselves are gifted, while also encompassing the message that ‘everyone is born gifted’. One year ago, all of the group’s members were completely unknown and unpolished as artists. Now, having honed their talents and proven their overwhelming performance ability, they have earned praise and been labeled as ‘gifted’ by the wider world, which makes the message of this song all the more convincing. It is also a positive song that can offer encouragement to those who are looking for a place to shine or to be themselves in these chaotic times.

“The period at the end of ‘Gifted.’ signifies that it is the final song in a series of four tracks from ‘THE FIRST’, each of which has been named after one of the four letters in BMSG, my company name. The title of each song in the series has also reflected the number of members in the group at that time: ‘Be Free’ and ‘Move On’ were each performed by six members and have six letters in their titles, while ‘Shining One’ featured 10 performers and has 10 letters. The period in ‘Gifted.’ allows us to have seven characters in the title, like the seven members in ‘BE:FIRST’, as an indication that the group have reached their final formation and are ready to go out into the world. So, this single is both a conclusion of the previous chapter and the start of a new one.”

As we look forward to the upcoming release be sure to check out the music video for “Shining One” along with the streaming like for the track here!

BACK-ON Looks Towards the Skys with Latest Single!

SKY WALKER Digital Jacket Cover

Rock band BACK-ON have over 100 million streams to their name. A string of hit songs used as themes to Japan’s biggest anime and video game franchises. And they recently released 15-year anniversary best of album FLIP SOUND featuring their most iconic hits reimagined. Japan’s BACK-ON show no signs of slowing down as the cheeky duo from Tokyo’s Adachi district reveal plans for a brand-new album this November, along with their latest release “SKY WALKER”.

The new upbeat new single is entitled SKY WALKER, and sees BACK-ON’s TEEDA and KENJI03 once again switch it up with genres, this time a high-energy electro-rap track featuring unique rock riffs, chilled beats and massive pop melodies. 

KENJI03 comments, “There’s no time limit for a dream.  Opportunities and chances can be seized by anyone. Enjoy your life even if people laugh at you! We wrote the lyrics with this as the theme. I want this track to encourage those who hear it.”

Lyricist and MC TEEDA adds, “Until now the music I’ve made has sometimes been swayed by obstacles or feeling that I’m not good enough. I guess it’s part of our roots. Yet the lyrics to this song are so exciting and full of hope. And after everything, we’re able to freely make music from our hometown of Adachi! Wasn’t that always our dream? When you listen to Sky Walker I would be so happy if you could chase after your dreams and pursue”

Leading up this announcement BACK-ON dropped their brilliant call-back to the golden age of pop punk with their latest single WAVES. The track was picked up by Spotify’s official “Pop Punk’s Not Dead” playlist, being one of the only non-English songs amongst the latest releases from Travis Barker, All Time Low and Sum 41.

KENJI03 states, “This is our first summer love song. This year we couldn’t hit the beach because of COVID, so instead we made this song around the image of having a casual date by the sea. Be sure to play it loud while cruising along the coastline! Haha.”

TEEDA concludes “We wanted to make the pop-punk style from the 2000s into a new sound, so those of the same generation as us will be like ‘Oh, I know this sound!’, and I’d be so happy if the newer generation were like ‘Oh, so fresh!’.”

WAVES followed a collaboration with Japan’s godfather of rock / street culture JESSE (RIZE, The BONEZ), the icon responsible for naming BACK-ON two-decades ago. The track Kill the Beat feat. JESSE saw them go back to their roots and bring back that early 2000s nu-metal, rap-rock sound in an aggressive but fun celebration of the music BACK-ON and JESSE originally fell in love with. The track was also selected for Deezer’s official “Heavy New Rock” playlist, and was again the only non-English track included.

BACK-ON’s new album is currently unnamed and will be released on 10 November 2021. 

Be sure to check out the lyric video for SKY WALKER below along with the track here!