"Start Again" is a song recorded by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai, released October 3, 2022, by

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

. Based on a true story of a mother and daughter's interaction with one another, the song was written by Ai with additional composition by producer Uta. Upon its release, the song failed to enter any ''

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 ...

'' or

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

charts.

Background and release

In February 2022, Ai released the promotional single " First Time", from her twelfth studio album, ''

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

''. In promotion of the release, Ai teamed up with

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

to advertise

Kit Kat Kit Kat (stylised as KitKat in various countries) is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, United Kingdom, and is now produced globally by Nestlé (which acquired Rowntree's in 1988), except in the United Stat ...

s within Japan. Despite the song being recorded entirely in English, "First Time" was featured in an animated commercial directed by

Naoko Yamada is a Japanese animator, television and film director. Working at Kyoto Animation, she directed the anime series ''K-On!'' (2009-2010) and ''Tamako Market'' (2013), and the anime films '' A Silent Voice'' (2016) and ''Liz and the Blue Bird'' (2018 ...

, who directed '' A Silent Voice''. The commercial was also Nestlé's first anime commercial. Near the end of September 2022, Ai announced on her social media that a new single would be released on October 3, titled "Start Again". On the day of its release, Ai revealed the song would be used in a new set of animated commercials by Nestlé to further advertise

s within Japan. Similar to the previous animated commercials, Yamada served as the director.

Lyrics

Lyrically, "Start Again" is based on a true story of a mother and daughter. 2,319 applicants applied to have their story shared by Nestlé in a television commercial. In a video interview by Nestlé, Ai commented she related to the story submission based on her experiences as a mother.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. * Ai Carina Uemura – vocals, songwriting, production * Uta – songwriting, production, recording arrangement * D.O.I – mixing *

Randy Merrill Randy Merrill is an American mastering engineer who has worked with international artists including DAY6, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Harry Styles, One Direction, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Beck, Liam Gallagher, Jonas Brothers, Muse, Cage the ...

– mastering

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2022 singles Ai (singer) songs EMI Records singles Songs written by Ai (singer) Song recordings produced by Ai (singer)