20 years of progress as felt in the new album "FOLLOW ME UP. Maaya Sakamoto's "now" is here.

After 10 years of producing with Yoko Kanno, Sakamoto Maaya has continued to produce music for the past 10 years. Many creators who have been associated with her participated in the 20th anniversary album "Follow Me Up". FOLLOW ME UP" is a mellow album that could only have been created today.

FOLLOW ME" is the keyword for the 20th anniversary

FOLLOW ME" was the theme of the 20th anniversary live concert held at Saitama Super Arena in April. For this 20th anniversary album, a few words were added to the title, "FOLLOW ME UP", right?

SAKAMOTO: "FOLLOW ME" was not a strong image of "follow me" in my mind. There was a movie I loved called "Follow Me" (released in 1972, directed by Carol Reed). In the story, a detective follows a woman and they maintain a certain distance without talking to each other, but the woman becomes aware of the detective's presence and a mysterious relationship of trust is established. Although they have never spoken to each other, they share their feelings and likes with each other, which is similar to the relationship between the listener and myself. I thought it would be nice to have that kind of trusting relationship with a good sense of distance, so I titled the live concert "FOLLOW ME".

I see. So you had a rather quiet image in mind.

Sakamoto: When the live concert was over and we were about to start making the album, I thought it would be okay to carry over the title "FOLLOW ME" as the keyword for the 20th anniversary. So I made a slight change and changed the album title to "FOLLOW ME UP".

─ ─ As the first song on the album is a new song, "FOLLOW ME," it is indeed a key word. The title track was written and composed by Sakamoto.

Sakamoto: I started composing this song early on, and I wanted to create a song that would be a break from the album. But when I decided to write the lyrics when the whole album was coming together, the words "follow me" stuck with the melody. I felt like I should write a song with the album title, which is something I don't do often.

─ ─ I thought it was a mature song with a soft groove, and I thought it was very typical of your current style.

SAKAMOTO: I think it was probably a good thing that I wrote the song without being self-conscious and with a free spirit. It is a song that is very natural to me, and it has become an important part of the album.

─ The lyrics are full of positive emotions, but the part "How much time do I have left?" stuck out to me like a small thorn.

Sakamoto: That's something I think about all the time. Maybe especially when you become an adult, but I think that life goes by in a flash. Ever since I was in my 20s, whenever I released a CD, I always wondered if I would have any regrets even if it was my last. I felt that there was no way I could just do it the next time.

─ So it was the accumulation of all these experiences that led you to where you are now.

Iris" was recorded using analog tape.

─ The third song, "Sanagi" is also a new song. It was written by Sakamoto and composed and arranged by Katsutoshi Kitagawa of ROUND TABLE. It is an up-tempo song with lots of strings (arranged by Yoji Makino).

SAKAMOTO: This song is very Kitagawa-san-like. I had an image that he writes songs that get people excited at live performances, so I asked him to write a song in that direction this time as well. I have known Kitagawa-san for a long time, and he is like a big brother to me. I wanted him to be a part of our 20th anniversary album.

───I have the impression that the people who have worked together in music production over the past 20 years are evenly represented on this album, and Shoko Suzuki, who wrote the lyrics to "Saved. She has provided us with a number of songs, starting with the 2006 single "Wind-waiting Jet".

Sakamoto: She has written many wonderful songs for us, and she also participated in this album with two songs, "SAVED." and "Iris.

─ "Iris" is the last song on the album and was written by you, wasn't it?

SAKAMOTO: The melody of "Iris" was created in the process of making "Kosara". It was the theme song for the OVA "Tamayura: Graduation Photo," and I wrote it according to the world view of the work and the orders of the production team.

─ For this song, Shoko Suzuki was in charge of arranging and playing the piano.

SAKAMOTO: This is the first song for which I asked Sachiko Suzuki to do only the arrangement, and she seemed to find it refreshing. She likes to record not digitally, but with a focus on analog, and "Iris" was recorded on analog tape.

─ Analog tapes are very rare in this day and age.

Sakamoto: We recorded my singing and Shoko's piano together. We didn't even decide on the tempo; we just breathed together. The song "Iris" has a handmade feel to it, and the tempo fluctuates according to the emotion of the song. It is a song that is not too neat and tidy, and I thought that this is exactly how Sachiko sees the world.

─ The lyrics, too, are set in a house facing a lake, and the natural scene is expansive.

Sakamoto: When I imagined a small composition with just piano and singing, the image of a woman living alone in a Western-style house by a lake came to mind.