Ai Nakajima's new album "Curiosity", crossfade videos of all songs are now available! Writers' comments and a report on the special pre-listen event have also arrived!

Ai Nakajima's first full album since her return, "Curiosity" (released on Wednesday, February 14, 2018), has released a video crossfade of all the songs.

Ai Nakajima made her voice acting debut in 2008 as Ranka Lee in "Macross F," and in 2014 she appeared in "Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! in 2014, as the main character Megumi Aino/Cure Lovely in "Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! In addition, as a singer, many of her songs topped the charts, but she took a break from singing after her last live performance "Thank You" at the Seinenkan in March 2014. Then on December 1, 2016, she announced that she would resume her activities as a voice actor and singer in earnest for the first time in almost three years, starting in 2017; on December 11, she held a free live concert at the church square at Odaiba Venus Fort, and tickets for her one-man live concert in June 2017 were sold out immediately. Since then, they have continued to gain momentum in their activities, including participating in Animelo Summer Live 2017 and performing the opening theme song for the fall anime "Neto Mitsume no Susume.

At a fan club event held at Laforet Museum last December, they announced that they will release their first full-length album on February 14, 2018, which will be their first album since their return. LIVE 2018" on January 26, 2018.
⇒Live 2018" on January 26, 2018! LIVE 2018" Report

Live 2018" report. A video crossfade of all the songs from the full album "Curiosity," which will be released on February 14, 2018, is now available for viewing!　In addition, comments from the artists and musicians who participated in "Curiosity" and the official report on the special pre-listen event have also arrived, so let us introduce them to you as well.

Comments from the artists and musicians who participated in the "Curiosity" project

Ryosuke Shigenaga
I am very happy to be able to work with Ai Nakajima for this album after a long time.
The first song I contributed to Ai was "Tenshi ni naritai" (I want to be an angel), the first single, in 2009.
I was a fledgling composer at the time, and I remember how happy I was that the song was chosen for the album.
Nine years have passed since then, and I am sure that we have both experienced many things, some of which we have gained, and some of which have not changed since then.
I made a conscious effort to express the current Ai Nakajima with her whole body by combining all of these elements in "Till It Turns Into Memories.
Please listen to the sad, danceable, mature, and cute "Till Memories Turn".

Poet Satomi
I want her to sing a poem like this!　I have been envisioning the world of "I want you to sing this kind of song and poem" since that day.
Ai Nakajima gave us this job.
Usually, after I write a poem, I use the title of a word that I find delicious or a killer word that sums up the poem (even if it is not in the poem), but this time Ai Nakajima asked me to title the song "Usozukizakura," which is the name of a cherry tree in the Usozuki cherry blossom season. This was a first for me in my 17-year career as a poet laureate. Next time, I would like to deliver the world I envisioned.

Yoshiki Matsumoto
I have been a fan of Macross since the first version, and when I first heard "Interstellar Flight," a song inserted in "Macross F," I thought what a wonderful vocalist had come into the world, and I strongly hoped that one day I could provide music for Mr. Nakajima.
I was very much honored that Mr. Nakajima seemed to have liked my song for a long time.
I had a great time working on "Usozukizakura," for which I provided the music, and the musicians who participated in the project were all excellent.
I hope my fans will like it as much as I did.

Avec Avec
I had the opportunity to work with Ai Nakajima on the remix of "Transfer" by livetune,
It was one of the major points of reference for me at the time, and I am very happy to be working with her in this way,
I was very deeply moved to be able to work with him in this way this time.
I still remember the moment I heard Ai Nakajima's voice on the track I created.
Odyssey," for which I wrote the lyrics and arranged the music.
I wrote the lyrics and arranged the music for the song "Odyssey" with a sense of new beginnings, future adventures, and the sadness that comes with that,
I wrote the song with the aim of mixing nostalgia and newness.
I am very honored to have been able to participate in this very important album, which is Ai Nakajima's first album since resuming her career!

Ai Nakajima's New Album "Curiosity" Special Pre-Listening Event Talk Event Official Report
Ai Nakajima will release her 4th album "Curiosity" on February 14. Ai Nakajima will release her 4th album "Curiosity" on February 14. A special pre-listen event was held on January 28 at Flying Dog's venue.

Fans who were invited by lottery were first invited to listen to all the songs on "Curiosity. Of the 12 songs on the album, nine were new, so most of the songs were new to the audience. The audience was able to taste all the songs along with the lyrics projected on the screen.

After the listening session, Ai Nakajima took the stage to applause. Natalie Music Editor Shigeaki Usuki acted as a listener and gave a deep talk about "Curiosity," which she had just performed.

Usuki said that "Curiosity" is Nakajima's first album since her return to the music scene in February 2017, and that "unlike the previous Ai Nakajima albums, this album is full of new songs, and it is the first album of a new chapter for Ai Nakajima. It's the first album of a new chapter for Ai Nakajima," Usuki said, smiling happily.

The album was produced by Mitsuyoshi Tamura of Tamura Seisakusho, who has long been a favorite of Nakajima, an 80's idol aficionado, as a producer who has worked with artists such as Kyoko Koizumi.
Nakajima says, "I have nothing but respect for the viewpoint of someone who has been in the music industry since the days of songs, so this album is an album of greed, incorporating that viewpoint while also doing new things.

The talk then turned to specifics of the new songs.
The song "Submarine" was written by Haruichi Shindo of Porno Graffitti and composed by Rasmus Faber, an unexpected combination that brought about a chemical reaction in the music. The song "Life's The Party Time!" was written by Kenichi Maeyamada (Hyadyne), who said that the song "has a lively party atmosphere with a touch of sadness. The song is so catchy and world-class that Mr. Usuki was surprised, "What kind of anime tie-in song is this? and "Jewel," a song with a Western flavor reminiscent of Seiko Matsuda in the 1990s.

When asked which song they wanted the audience to pick up, a female fan first mentioned "Usozukizakura. This song was a ballad written and arranged by Yoshiki Matsumoto. She looked back on the recording of the song and said, "I was under a lot of pressure to attack the middle of the song. She also showed her unique lyric writing method in "Till it turns into a memory," which was mentioned by a male fan. He also talked about how he wrote the lyrics at a family restaurant just before the deadline.

On January 31, Nakajima will publish "Ongaku ga Taught Me" (What Music Taught Me), co-authored with writer Minori Kai. The new song, "Memories of the Future," was written by Kai. I was happy to see that she wrote the lyrics with the idea that this is the kind of life I must have led," she said.

The talk lasted about 40 minutes. The topics covered all the new songs of "Curiosity," but the episodes that were presented gave the impression that this was just the beginning. Nakajima's smile showed his confidence in "Curiosity," a record "full of new territories" with songs contributed by a wide variety of creators. Once the album is released, the next stop will be a tour of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. The event ended with Nakajima's words, "See you again.

The event was held twice on the same day, the first time via LINE LIVE.

Product Information
Ai Nakajima "Curiosity
Release date: February 14, 2018
・Price:
　First edition disc: 3,800 yen (excluding tax) (*)
(*) Includes Blu-ray with music videos of new songs "Submarine", "Watashi no Sekai" and "Saturday Night Question".
　 Normal Edition: 3,000 yen (tax not included)


＜Included songs
Submarine (lyrics by Seiichi Shindo, music arranged by Rasmus Faber)
Life's The Party Time! (lyrics by Ai Nakajima & Kenichi Maeyamada, arrangement by Kenichi Maeyamada)
Afterimage of Avalon (lyrics by Yuho Iwasato, music by Bugbear, arrangement by Bugbear & Naoki Chiba "naotyu-")
Watashi no Sekai (lyrics by Kouji Seo, music by Tomohiro Akiura, arrangement by West Ground) *.
Jewel(lyrics by Yasako Kato, arr. by Akimitsu Honma)
Till it turns into a memory (lyrics by Ai Nakajima, arr. by Ryosuke Shigenaga)
Usozukizakura (lyrics by Satomi, arrangement by Yoshiki Matsumoto)
The Best Moment (lyrics by Toshiaki Yamada, arr. Takahiro Furukawa)
Odyssey(lyrics by Avec Avec)
Saturday Night Question (lyrics by Shinichi Kato, music by Soichiro Yamauchi, arrangement by Fuji Fabric)**.
Future Memory (lyrics by Minori Kai & Twisty, arr. by CMJK)
Ai wo toroshite (lyrics by Ai Nakajima, arrangement by Makoto Bando)

** Ending theme for the TV anime "Kaze Natsu
** TV anime "Netojin no Susume" opening theme