''Soul Quest'' (stylized as ''SOUL QUEST'') is the tenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Japanese singer

Misia Misaki Itō, commonly known as and stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended ...

. It was released on July 27, 2011, through

Ariola Japan , is a Japanese record label that is part of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It is the successor of BMG Japan. History *2008 – Ariola Japan becomes a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. *2009 – Ariola Japan becomes a full-on record label ...

. The album yielded three official singles, the digital exclusives " Edge of This World" and " Life in Harmony", and the sole physical release " Kioku". The lead track, " This Is Me", served as promotional single for the album.

Background and release

Misia stated in an interview with EMTG Music that the theme for the album was "modern soul". She wanted to take a departure from the ballad-heavy sound of ''

Just Ballade ''Just Ballade'' (stylized as ''JUST BALLADE'') is the ninth studio album by Japanese singer Misia. It was released on December 16, 2009 by Ariola Japan, marking Misia's first album release under the label. The album yielded seven singles, " Yes Fo ...

'' to concentrate on creating an R&B record. Misia cites

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

records from past decades as her inspiration, describing a desire to incorporate soulful melodies with a contemporary digital sound to create a fusion. ''Soul Quest'' is Misia's first studio album in over a year and a half. It was released in two distinct formats, one standard edition and a limited two-disc edition featuring a 77-minute non-stop

DJ mix A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track. DJ mixes are usually performed using a DJ mixer and multiple sounds sources, such as turntables, CD players, digital audio players ...

of various fan favorite songs, produced by

Muro Muro, a word meaning wall in the Spanish, Portuguese Italian, Esperanto and Ido languages, may refer to: Places France * Muro, Haute-Corse, a commune in the ''département'' of Haute-Corse Italy * Muro Leccese, a municipality of the Province ...

. The album was supported by The Tour of Misia Japan Soul Quest, which started prior to the album's release in February 2011 and was extended through February 2012. Several songs off the album received commercial

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...

s: "Subarashī Mono o Sagashi ni Ikō" and "Manatsu no Chameleon" were both featured on the AX variety show ''Himitsu no Kenmin Show'', while "Ame no Sonata" was used in H&S commercials, and "Kimi ni wa Uso o Tsukenai" in commercials for the japanese financial company Gaitame Japan.

Commercial performance

''Soul Quest'' entered the daily Oricon Albums Chart at number 4, where it also peaked. It debuted at number 7 on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart, with sales of 20,000 copies. The album debuted one position higher, at number 6, on the ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine ''Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence from ''Bi ...

'' Top Albums Sales chart. ''Soul Quest'' charted for fifteen weeks on the Oricon Albums Chart, selling a reported total of 40,000 copies during its run.

Track listing

Charts

Sales

References

External links

''Soul Quest''
Special Site {{Authority control 2011 albums Misia albums Ariola Japan albums Albums produced by David Foster Albums produced by DJ Gomi Albums produced by Shirō Sagisu