The Two Worlds of Yui Makino. Double A-side new single is now available!

Yui Makino is releasing a double A-side single, the light-filled ballad "What A Beautiful World" and the sparkling pop song "Weekend Rendezvous. Following her album "Tabinooto," Makino has invited Hiroyasu Yano as a producer to complete her high-quality pop world. If "What A Beautiful World" follows the unique musical world of Makino's debut song "Amrita," "Weekend Rendezvous" is the new door opened by her encounter with Yano. Two worlds, two Yui Makino's, are here.

I jumped into a new world through the encounter with Hiroyasu Yano.

─ Your new single "What A Beautiful World/Weekend Rendezvous" was produced by Hiroyasu Yano. Could you tell us about your encounter with Mr. Yano?

Makino: We first met when I asked him to produce the album "Tabinooto" released in October 2015. I had originally been listening to the music that Mr. Yano makes and thought it would be fun to dive into this kind of worldview. When I was making the album, I asked the staff, "May I ask Mr. Yano to produce it? I was busy, so I asked him if I could ask Mr. Yano. He is a very busy person, so I thought I would just take a chance, but he gladly agreed. Moreover, at our first meeting, he brought a number of my past albums, saying, "I've been listening to them for a long time.

─ ─ So you were a good match for each other.

Makino: Yes, that's right (embarrassed laugh). For the album, not only was he present throughout the recording, but he also followed up with me when I was struggling with the lyrics. Since we lived close to each other, we would gather at a family restaurant in the middle of the night and he would help me write lyrics until dawn.

─ It was more like a fellow musician than a producer.

Makino: That may be so. At that family restaurant, I felt that we were able to have a dense conversation about our views on music for the first time. We also talked a lot about trivial things, and I felt like we were getting closer. When we finished the production of "Tabinooto," he said, "I would like to work with you again in another form. That led to this single.

─ You mentioned earlier that it would be fun to dive into Mr. Yano's worldview, but I wonder if urban, fashionable pop songs such as "World Tour" and "Goodbye My Friend" (both written and arranged by Hiroyasu Yano), which were included in "Tabino Outo," were a new world for you. I wonder if it was a new world for Makino-san.

Makino: I think the music became what it is because of Mr. Yano. It has a spare, adult atmosphere, and my vocals were able to express it in a nice, toned-down way. Besides, the production period for "Tavinoto" was tight, and we all crammed into the studio and completed the album while exhausted at the end (laughs). (laughs) Mr. Yano and all the staff became like comrades-in-arms, and we were able to bring that good teamwork to this single.

─ So you were able to make this single in a very good environment.