, is the first studio album by Japanese

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

duo

Yorushika is a Japanese rock duo founded in 2017. The group is composed of N-buna, a Vocaloid producer, and Suis, a female vocalist. They are known for their juxtaposition of "passionate" and "upbeat" production and instrumentation fused with heavier l ...

. It was released on April 10, 2019 by .

Overview

It is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

based on the story of "Elma and Amy", written and illustrated by

n-buna N-buna (pronounced ''nabuna'', stylized as n-buna) is a Japanese music producer and composer. He is a Vocaloid music producer and is the guitarist and songwriter for the Japanese rock duo Yorushika. History N-buna was born in Gifu Prefecture ...

. The album contains a total of 14 songs by Amy, the protagonist of the story, who wrote them for Elma while travelling to different places in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The Album cover shows Amy standing in the crossroad of

Tyska Skolgränd Tyska Skolgränd () is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden, stretching from Svartmangatan to Baggensgatan, and crossed by Själagårdsgatan. The present name of the street, first appeared as ''Tyska Scholæ Gatan'' o ...

and

Baggensgatan Baggensgatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Forming a southern extension to the street Bollhusgränd near the square Köpmantorget, it stretches to the southern end of Svartmangatan. It forms a parallel ...

Gamla Stan Gamla Stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla Stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Gamla Stan includes the surrounding islets ...

Making

N-buna had developed the idea of writing about a man who had quit music as a way of projecting his old self. He set the story in Sweden because of having lived there as a child and the influences it had on him. He went on a trip to Sweden alone and wrote the music there. He also came up with the idea for track 7, "In June, I Write About the Town After the Rain", in a hotel in

as he couldn't go out due to the rain.

Release

In addition to the music, the first press limited edition of the album titled "Letters to Elma" also contains lyrics and letters written by Amy along with pictures of the places he visited. Prior to the release of the album, music videos for titles "Deep Indigo" on 27 December 2018, "Parade" on 11 March 2019, and "That's Why I Gave Up on Music" on 5 April 2019 were also released. The duo released their second album titled ''Elma'' on 28 August 2019, which serves as a direct sequel to the story of ''That's Why I Gave Up on Music''.

Track listing

All lyrics／music／arrangement by

Personnel

; Main *

– lyrics, music,

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, other instruments, and producer * suis –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

; Supporting * – guitar * –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Masack – drums * – piano,

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

synthesiser A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

; Engineers／Directors／Producers * –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

* , , , – assistant engineers * – recording supervisor (direction and coordination） * – A&R

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

* –

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

; Coordinators * – coordinator * , , , , – promotion coordinators（U&R records） ; Art * –

illustrations An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

* , –

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

, design ; Studios * Recording studios – Studio Dedé (

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan), ABS Recording (

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

, Tokyo, Japan), Bunkamura Studio (Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan), Studio Mech (

Meguro is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. Meguro is predominantly residential in character ...

, Tokyo, Japan), Ginza Studio (

Ginza Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo ...

, Tokyo, Japan), and Matsusuta Studio (Tokyo, Japan) * Mixing studio – Matsusuta Studio (Tokyo, Japan) *

Mastered Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...

by at Sony Music Studios (Tokyo, Japan)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notes

References

{{authority control 2019 debut albums Yorushika albums 2010s Japanese-language albums 2010s concept albums