(also known by its French title "La Solitude de l'aube") is a song by Japanese musician Ringo Sheena. It was released as one of the A-sides of her 14th single, along with the song " Irohanihoheto", released on May 27, 2013. The release date was the 15th anniversary of the release of Sheena's debut single "

Kōfukuron is the debut single by Japanese singer Ringo Sheena and it was released on May 27, 1998 by Toshiba EMI, East World. Since Sheena suddenly gained popularity, it was decided that this single was resold as a 12 cm single. New edition, includ ...

" in 1998.

Background and development

In early 2012, Sheena's band Tokyo Jihen disbanded, and released a string of releases, including the extended play ''

Color Bars SMPTE color bars are a television test pattern used where the NTSC video standard is utilized, including countries in North America. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) refers to the pattern as Engineering Guideline ...

'', the live compilation album ''

Tokyo Collection Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

'', the B-side collection ''

Shin'ya Waku , also known by its English title ''The Midnight Broadcasting'' is a compilation album by Japanese rock band Tokyo Jihen, released on August 29, 2012. It predominantly compiled B-sides from the band's singles, as well as a DVD exclusive song and ...

'', and performed their farewell tour, ''Bon Voyage''. On May 16, 2012, Sheena released her first post-Tokyo Jihen solo work, the digital single "

Jiyū e Michizure (official English title: ''Collateral Damage'') is Japanese singer-songwriter Ringo Sheena's digital single (the 17th single overall), released on May 16, 2012. The song is featured as the theme song for the Japanese television drama '' Atar ...

." This song acted as the theme song for the TBS drama '' Ataru'', starring

Masahiro Nakai is a Japanese television host, actor, news presenter, radio personality. He was the leader of the now defunct boy band SMAP, which had been the best-selling boy band in Asia. While working as a member of a boy band, he worked extensively as a te ...

. It was later revealed that Sheena was heavily pregnant with her second child during the single's release. As she did not feel it was appropriate to link single promotions with the birth of a child, she waited until her ''Tōtaikai'' concerts in November to reveal this.

Writing and production

Sheena worked together with producer and guitarist

Yukio Nagoshi Yukio is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yukio can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *幸夫, "happiness, man" *幸生, "happiness, live" *幸男, "happiness, man" *幸雄, ...

on the song, as well as "Irohanihoheto". Sheena had previously worked with Nagoshi during her ''Ringo Expo'' concerts in 2008, and on the songs "Zero Chiten Kara," "Togatta Teguchi" and "Yokyō" on her solo album ''

Sanmon Gossip , also known as ''Superficial Gossip'', is the fourth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ringo Sheena, released on June 24, 2009 in Japan through EMI Music Japan and Virgin Music. The album debuted at number 1 with 120,446 units sold and i ...

'' (2009). Her previous Tokyo Jihen bandmate

Ichiyo Izawa , better known by his stage name is a Japanese pianist, vocalist and songwriter, best known for his work in the Ringo Sheena-helmed band Tokyo Jihen. He is also the lead vocalist and pianist of the band Appa. Biography Izawa was born in 1976 ...

played the

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

on "Irohanihoheto." Bassist Hitoshi Watanabe had previously worked with Sheena as a member of Bōtoku Vitamin, one of the bands who performed on her album '' Utaite Myōri: Sono Ichi'' (2002). Drummer Noriyasu Kawamura previously worked with Sheena on her debut album ''

Muzai Moratorium , also known as ''Innocence Moratorium'', is the debut studio album by Japanese singer and songwriter Ringo Sheena, released on February 24, 1999 by Toshiba EMI. The album debuted at #2 and has sold over 1,433,000 copies. The album was certified t ...

'' (1999). "Kodoku no Akatsuki" is a song featuring lyrics written by screenwriter Aya Watanabe, who wrote the screenplay for the NHK morning drama '' Carnation''. This is the first time Sheena did not write the lyrics to a promoted single track. The pair had worked together on ''Carnation'', as Sheena had written the eponymous theme song, but had never met face to face before. After being asked to write a theme song for an NHK show called ''Switch Interview: Tatsujintachi'', Sheena was inspired by the concept of the program, in which a team of interviewers ask and debate topics. She wanted to express this teamwork nature in the song, so asked Watanabe to write the lyrics. She came up with the melody for the song after hearing her son and her elementary school age niece singing the children's song " Kaijū no Ballad."

Promotion and release

The song was released a month after the single's first A-side, "Irohanihoheto", was made available for download digitally. "Kodoku no Akatsuki" was used as the theme show for the

NHK Educational TV , abbreviated on-screen as NHK E, is the second television service of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). It is a sister service of NHK General TV, showing programs of a more educational, cultural or intellectual nature, periodically also sh ...

program ''Switch Interview: Tatsujintachi''. During Sheena's ''Tōtaikai'' concerts in November 2013, Sheena performed an English language version of "Kodoku no Akatsuki".

Critical reception

''OK Music'' reviewers felt that "Kodoku no Akatsuki"'s "sentimental lyrics and electric piano are impressive", believing that it would be a popular song at Sheena's live concerts.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from the liner notes booklets of "Irohanihoheto/Kodoku no Akatsuki" and ''Hi Izuru Tokoro''.

Single version

Performers and musicians *

Hirohisa Horie is a Japanese musician and multi-instrumentalist. He plays primarily keyboards and guitar. Horie is one half of the Shibuya-kei duo Neil & Iraiza, and is known for his work with artists such as Kahimi Karie and Cornelius (as a member of the C ...

–

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptua ...

*Noriyasu Kawamura – drums *

– guitars, electric sitar *Ringo Sheena – vocals, chorus, songwriting *Hitoshi Watanabe – bass Technical and production *Uni Inoue – recording engineer, mixing engineer *Shohei Kojima – assistant engineer *Kozo Miyamoto – assistant engineer *Shigeo Miyamoto – mastering engineer *Fumio Miyata – musician coordinator *Hiroshi Satō – assistant engineer *Yuji Tanaka – instrument technician

Nobuneko version

Performers and musicians *Masato Abe – cello *Tomoyuki Asakawa – harp *Great Eida – concertmaster *Hirohito Furugawara – viola *Shigeki Ippon – contrabass *Akane Irie – violin *Yuri Kaji – viola *Ayano Kasahara – cello *Tsukasa Kasuya – violin *Nagisa Kiriyama – violin *Takashi Konno – contrabass *Ayumu Koshikawa – violin *Minoru Kuwata – violin *Yoshihiko Maeda – cello *Erika Makioka – cello *Kioko Miki – violin *Shōko Miki – viola *Mariko Muranaka – cello *Nobuhiko Nakayama – programming *Yuki Nanjo – violin *Tatsuo Ogura – violin *Sachie Onuma – viola *Takayuki Oshikane – violin *

Neko Saito , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese violinist, conductor, composer and music arranger. Saito is the leader of the Saito Neko Quartet, and is known for his many collaborations with musician Ringo Sheena. Biography Saito began playi ...

– conductor, string arrangement, solo violin *Teruhiko Saitō – contrabass *Ringo Sheena – arrangement,

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

*Kojiro Takizawa – violin *Takashi Taninaka – contrabass *Seigen Tokuzawa – cello *Chizuko Tsunoda – violin *Leina Ushiyama – violin *Amiko Watabe – viola *Yūji Yamada – viola *Daisuke Yamamoto – violin *Haruko Yano – violin *Tomoko Yokota – violin

Chart rankings

Sales

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kodoku no Akatsuki 2013 songs 2013 singles Japanese-language songs Ringo Sheena songs Songs written by Ringo Sheena EMI Music Japan singles