The language of flowers colors a wide variety of songs. Shikano releases 2nd album "Alstroemeria".

Female artist/singer-songwriter Shikano has released her second album, her first in a year and seven months. The album title "Alstroemeria" is the name of a flower and has the flower language of "longing for the future. Each new song on the album is named after a flower, making it a colorful piece of music. A splendid team of writers, including Hidekazu Tanaka (MONACA), Tom-H@ck, Yashikin, and Hige Driver, have contributed songs to the album. In addition, there is a bonus track, a cover of a famous song.
Shikano talked to us about all the songs on the album in detail.

The album is now decorated with various flowers.

─ Congratulations on the release of your second album "Alstroemeria. What kind of album was it?

Shikano: It was first decided that the single songs released after the first album "nowhere" would be on this album, and we decided to create new songs to color them. At that time, I thought I would title all the new songs for the album after flowers. So I decided to name the album after flowers.

─ So "Alstroemeria" is a flower.

Shikano: The alstroemeria is the one covering my face in the artist photo. I also had this flower drawn for the album jacket illustration. The language of the flower is "yearning for the future," and I think it made for a positive album title. Also, a fan told me that it is also my birthday flower on December 20, the day of the album release.

─ ─ Were you not aware that it was your birth flower?

Shikano: Yes. December 20 is also close to my birthday (December 24), so I think the album could be a reverse birthday present from me to my fans.

─ The first song on the album is the 4th single, "day by day," the ending theme for the TV anime "Sword Oratoria: Dungeon ni Meets Encounter wo Motomete o Motomerunoka Gaiden.

Shikano: This song was composed and arranged by Hidekazu Tanaka of MONACA, whom I have always admired. I had a strong image of Mr. Tanaka's music as being lighthearted or outspoken, but he dared to remove that image and wrote a relaxed song that suited me.

─ ─ The melody of this song is very beautiful.

Shikano: It is beautiful, isn't it? However, there are parts where the melody is added in a maniacal way to the chord progression, which I thought was very typical of Mr. Tanaka.

─ How did you feel when you sang it?

Shikano: It was fun, but difficult. Mr. Tanaka gently encouraged me during recording.

─ ─ You wrote the lyrics, but what is the theme of the lyrics?

Shikano: "Family love. I knew that the second season would have more battle elements than the first season, but I felt that "Danmachi" is all about family ties.

─ ─ It is a refreshing song, and I thought it would fit well as the first song on the album.

ShikanoThank you. This song has the meaning of "moving forward day by day, little by little," so I thought that by starting with this song, I could show that I have also grown little by little. Also, I was able to sing this song in my own way, so I chose it as the first song.


─ The second song "Daisy Blue" is a new song on the album.

Shikano: It was composed and arranged by Sukopu, who wrote our second single "Dear Brave. I have been working with Sukopu since before my debut, so the melody was familiar to me and it was very easy to sing. Both the lyrics and the music were hopeful and refreshing, so I decided to combine daisy, a flower like the sun, and blue, a refreshing color, for the title.

─ Did you come up with the title yourself?

Shikano: Yes. Not only this song, but all the new songs for the album were titled after flowers by me.


───The third song "Melodic Aster*" is also a new song, with lyrics and music by Hige Driver.

Shikano: It is a type of hammering song that I had never sung before, so it was fresh for me. I have always loved video game music, and HigeDriver's songs give a sense of nostalgia to the generation that has been playing video games for a long time. But at the same time, there is a newness to it, and I think this fusion is what makes Hige-san's music so appealing.

─ ─ What was your impression of the lyrics?

Shikano: I thought it was a song about thinking about people far away. I know it is different from the image of Mr. Beard Driver, but I felt like it was expressing my feelings for my fans who support me. I had been active on the Web for a long time and had never sung in front of people. I thought my major label debut had changed that, and I thought I was getting closer to everyone, but on the other hand, there were some fans who felt sad that things had changed so much. There is a line in the lyrics, "A transparent present, will it please you a little? I sang the song with the feeling that I will approach everyone and meet them in person, while accepting their various feelings.

─ ─ The title "Aster" is the name of a flower, isn't it?

Shikano: Yes. Aster is a flower that looks like a star shining in the sky, and its meaning is "thinking of people far away. I think I was able to make a suitable title for this song by using the star as a fan and thinking of everyone who is far away.