What You Need to Know:
- Maaya Sakamoto, the renowned Japanese singer, songwriter, and voice actress, celebrates her birthday today with some exciting news for her fans worldwide. In a recent announcement, she confirmed that her long-awaited 11th full-length album will be released on May 31 (Wednesday).
- This work is a conceptual follow-up to her previous album Kyou Dake no Ongaku, and will involve an all-star line-up of talented creators, including Yu Arauchi (cero), Yuho Iwasato, Daisuke Kawaguchi, Shigeru Kishida (Quruli), Katsutoshi Kitagawa (ROUND TABLE), Shohei Koga (yourness), Shintaro Sakamoto, Anna Takeuchi, Kohei Dojima, tricot, and hiyune (chilldspot).
- In addition, the album will include four tie-up songs: “Sumire,” the opening theme of the TV anime Deaimon; “Kotoba ni Dekinai,” the ED theme of the third season of the popular anime Ascendance of a Bookworm; “Mada Tooku ni Iru,” the ED theme of the WOWOW original anime Hikari no Oh; and “un_mute,” the theme song for the TV anime REVENGER.
- The Limited First Edition of the album will also feature a Blu-ray disc with music videos for “Sumire,” “Mada Tooku ni Iru,” and “un_mute.”
- To accompany the album announcement, Maaya Sakamoto has released a new artist photo, cover photo, and TV commercial featuring the lead song “Naimononedari.” Fans can watch the TV commercial on Maaya Sakamoto's official YouTube channel.
It will comprise eight newly recorded songs based on Maaya Sakamoto’s original story:
The Kioku no Toshokan (Library of Memory) is a repository of the memories of people from all over the world. Acting on an impulse, a boy who collects discarded memories returns some of the memory boxes to the windows of their owners. What kind of music overflows when they open them?
Product information
Title: Kioku no Toshokan
Artist: Maaya Sakamoto
Release date: May 31, 2023
Limited First Edition: VTZL-227 / ¥4,620 (inc. tax)
Regular Edition: VTCL-60576 / ¥3,300 (inc. tax)
Limited First Edition Bonus Disc
Includes three music videos for “Sumire,” “Mada Tooku ni Iru,” and “un_mute.”
Tracklist
1. Naimononedari
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto; Composition/Arrangement: Yu Arauchi (cero)
2. discord
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto; Composition: Anna Takeuchi; Arrangement: Daisuke Kawaguchi
3. Time Traveler
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto; Composition/Arrangement: Katsutoshi Kitagawa (ROUND TABLE)
4. un_mute
Lyrics: Yuho Iwasato; Composition: SIRA; Arrangement: Shin Kono
5. Taion
Lyrics: Yuho Iwasato; Composition/Arrangement: Shohei Koga (yourness); Strings Arrangement: Shin Kono; Band: yourness
6. Ichido Kiri de Ii
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto; Composition/Arrangement/Band: tricot
7. Mada Tooku ni Iru
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto; Composition: Umuya Aneta, Sayuri Horishita; Arrangement: Umuya Aneta
8. Kotoba ni Dekinai
Lyrics/Composition: Maaya Sakamoto; Arrangement: h-wonder
9. Anything you wanna be
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto; Composition: hiyune (chilldspot); Arrangement: Kohei Dojima
10. Kuuchuu Niwa
Lyrics/Composition/Arrangement: Kohei Dojima
11. Kagami no Naka de
Lyrics: Shintaro Sakamoto; Composition/Arrangement: Keiichi Tomita
12. Sumire
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto; Composition: Shigeru Kishida (Quruli); Arrangement: Shigeru Kishida, Kento Ohgiya
Distribution information
Available on streaming services and major download sites such as the iTunes Store, RecoChoku, and mora from May 31.
Streaming services: Apple Music, LINE MUSIC, Amazon Music Unlimited, AWA, KKBOX, Rakuten Music, TOWER RECORDS MUSIC, Spotify, YouTube Music
Kioku no Toshokan webpage
PROFILE
Born in Tokyo. Active as a child actress from age eight. She made her CD debut in 1996 with the single “Yakusoku wa Iranai.” In 2011, her album You can’t catch me topped the Oricon chart. In 2013, she released Singer-Songwriter, the first album for which she wrote all the music.
In 2019, she released her 30th single “Uchuu no Kioku” (produced by Ringo Sheena) and her 10th original album Kyou Dake no Ongaku. In 2020, she released her 25th anniversary album Single Collection+ Achikochi and the digital single “Yakudo,” which topped the Oricon chart.
In 2021, she released her concept album Duets, which featured a variety of artists, and in the same month, she celebrated the 25th anniversary of her CD debut with a concert at Yokohama Arena, which is now on sale on Blu-ray and DVD.
In May 2022, she released the double tie-up single “Sumire / Kotoba ni Dekinai,” with music written and arranged by Shigeru Kishida. In July of the same year, her radio program “Vitamin M,” in which she has been a personality for 20 years, reached its 1,000th broadcast and entered its 21st year.
As a lyricist, in addition to writing her own first album, she has also written many songs for other artists, including Kinki Kids’ “Hikari no Kehai,” Mamoru Miyano’s “Toumei,” and Walküre’s “Kaze wa Yokoku Naku Fuku,” and has published her own lyrics book Shishu (Kadokawa).
She also won the 38th Kazuo Kikuta Theater Award for her performance as Jerusha in the musical Daddy-Long-Legs.
She is a voice actress, actress, lyricist, essay writer, and radio personality, and her vibrant voice has won the support of fans all over the world.
Official homepage: http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya/
Official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/maayasakamotoCh/