rockyourlyricsJapan’s indie rock darlings Radwimps, who just celebrated their 15th anniversary, have announced the release of their new studio album “FOREVER DAZE” set to hit Nov. 23, 2021. 3 years since the release of their last studio album, “Forever Daze” was written and recorded throughout the pandemic and speaks to the musical challenges the guys faced, their hopes moving forward and features a diverse group of collaborators and experimental elements. The album welcomes guest artists including the famous actor/singer Masaki Suda, as well as two of the most up-and-coming artists, Awich and iri.
RADWIMPS are…
Yojiro Noda (vocals/guitar/piano), Yusuke Takeda (bass)
(Satoshi Yamaguchi (drums) & Akira Kuwahara (guitar) are currently on hiatus)
Formed in 2001, Japanese 4-piece band Radwimps made their major label debut in 2005. Soon after, they garnered a broad fan base, with the younger generation at the core. The band has released nine studio albums thus far. The band’s creation of music for record-breaking animated feature films “Your Name.” and “Weathering with You” led to recognitions at the Japanese Academy Award for Best Original Score. Their musical activities go far beyond Japan, including touring extensively around the world.
“Forever Daze” is composed of 14 songs including the advance singles “Blame Summer,” “Iron Feather,” “TWILIGHT” (from “WE ARE ONE,” the special project commemorating vol. 100 manga and 1000th episode of anime “ONE PIECE“), “Utakata-Uta” (theme from the film “It’s a Flickering Life“) and “SUMMER DAZE 2021.” The newly recorded full orchestra version of “Nekojarashi,” now titled “Inujarashi,” and Radwimps version of “Grand Escape” from the film “Weathering with You” are also on the album.
The band have also revealed the album cover art in collaboration with contemporary artist Yuma Kishi, directed by art director, Ryosuke Miyashita. The image was generated by AI, combining portraits of a 15-year-old boy and a girl with diversified backgrounds including race and gender. Adding the sense of “daze” onto the image, an abstract figure on the cover represents the continuous evolution of the band even after 15 years of leading the major music scene in Japan.
Radwimps live show is incendiary, and since touring has been at a minimum, the band have released a live performance for their fans overseas of “Grand Escape,” from their “15th Anniversary Special Concert” held at Yokohama Arena in Nov. 2020, on their official YouTube channel. Complete video of the show will be available on the bonus Blu-ray/DVD of the 15th Anniversary Box (Limited Edition) of the new album.
Track List:
- Kaiba
- SHIWAKUCHA feat. Awich
- Tokumeikibo
- TWILIGHT (Theme song of “WE ARE ONE,” special project commemorating vol. 100 manga and 1000th episode of anime “ONE PIECE”)
- Togenkyo
- Blame Summer
- MAKAFUKA
- Tokyo feat. iri
- Utakata-Uta feat. Masaki Suda（Theme song of film “It’s a Flickering Life”）
- Inujarashi
- Grand Escpae
- Kataware
- Iron Feather
- SUMMER DAZE 2021
In 2020, Radwimps released four consecutive singles; “Light The Light” in March, “Nekojarashi” in April, “SHINSEKAI“ in May and “cocorononaca” in June, leading up to the EP “Blame Summer EP” in September. To commemorate their 15th major debut anniversary, they held a 2 day live streamed show titled “15th Anniversary Special Concert” at Yokohama Arena on November 22 and 23. Carefully following the COVID 19 prevention guidelines, the venue was also opened to audiences. To wrap up the special year, they also launched a new virtual music experience “SHIN SEKAI” and offered a new way of experiencing their music.
Follow