Interview] Momo Asakura releases new single "Boku Dake Dake Mi Mieru Hoshi (Only I Can See the Stars). It has a more mature atmosphere than usual.

Momo Asakura is releasing her 8th single "Boku Dake Dake Mieru Hoshi (Only I Can See the Stars)". The year 2020 is a year in which many things have been restricted due to the Corona disaster. It is precisely because of this situation that we wanted to create a single that would be close to listeners. The title track, "Boku Dake Dake Mi Mieru Hoshi" was created with this in mind, and is a gentle and nostalgic song. The vocals were also changed from the usual cute tone to a more mature, enveloping tone to match the atmosphere of the song. Together with the mellow and gentle coupling song "Ashiato," this is a new album that shows Momo Asakura's new charm.

I wanted to write a song that would be close to everyone.

─ ─ The single "Boku dake mita mieru hoshi" is your first CD in about six months since your 2nd album "Agapanthus" which came out this year on April 8, 2020. What did you think about when producing it?

Asakura: I knew that the Corona disaster happened this year, so I wanted to write songs that convey what I wanted to say because of this situation. Not only me but also the staff felt the same way, and we quickly decided on the direction for this single. People in the world are having trouble seeing each other and are feeling down, so we decided to write a song that would be gentle and comforting to those people.

─ When did you start working on it?

Asakura: I think it was around August. We discussed the direction of the single together at a remote meeting, and learned that there are useful apps out there (laughs). We had a collection of songs that went along with that concept, and finally I listened to some of them. Among them, the song that became the basis for "Boku dake mita mieru hoshi" (Only I can see the stars) had a really fast, bright, and refreshing melody, yet it also had a sadness to it, which I love.

─ The music was composed by Ryosuke Shigenaga.

Asakura: Whenever I was asked to choose a composer, I didn't know who had composed the music, and I didn't know it was Shigenaga's work until after the music was chosen. I am glad to have had the opportunity to work with you.

─ Once the melody is decided, the next step is the lyrics.

Asakura: We had several people write the lyrics, and after working with the staff to choose from among them, we decided on Kaoli Inatome. The lyrics have a nostalgic atmosphere that makes one's heart pound, and what I liked the most about the lyrics was that they were not too specific about the main character and could be interpreted in many different ways. Since the concept of the song is to reach out to everyone and to be close to their hearts through song, I thought it would be more appropriate to use lyrics that allow people to project their own image onto the main character, regardless of gender.

─ ─ The first person is "I," but the lyrics can be interpreted in a wide range of ways, can't they?

Asakura That's right. All of my previous songs have been sung from a female point of view, so this is the first time I have sung from a point of view that is not exclusively female, or rather, from a point of view that is ambiguous in terms of gender. If you have been listening to my songs for a long time, I think you will find it refreshing. It was the first time for me to sing in the first person, so it was strange for me to sing this song. Usually, I imagine the main character and sing the lyrics from his/her point of view, but this time, I wanted the audience to feel the song from a woman's point of view when a woman listens to it, and a man's point of view when a man listens to it.

─ ─ The lyrics are more descriptive than emotional, and I felt like I was capturing the main characters in long shots. If you had to pick a favorite phrase, where would it be?

Asakura: The chorus "Midday star" left an impression on me from the moment I heard the song. It only appears in the chorus of the first verse, but I like it because it is the hook of the lyrics and makes you think, "What does it mean?

─ ─ The title of the song, "Boku dake mita mieru hoshi" (Only I can see the stars), is also woven into the lyrics, which is also connected to the title of the song.

Asakura: It makes me wonder what the stars that the main characters are looking up at symbolize, and I think it is a word that can be taken in many different ways.

─ ─ If you listen to the song all the way through, I think it can be interpreted as a song about looking back on one's youth as an adult.

Asakura: That's right. I think there are people who are in the midst of their youth right now, but for people in my age group, it made me nostalgic to do the things described in the lyrics with my friends when we were students, and I sang the song from an adult's perspective.

─ ─ The vocals definitely have an adult feel to them. How was the recording?

Asakura: The range is wide from low notes to high notes, and the words are packed, so I felt in the studio that "this song might be more difficult than I thought" (laughs). (Laughs.) So, I decided in advance in detail where to take my breath and where to sing in falsetto.

───The music video (MV) also has a nostalgic feel, doesn't it?

Asakura: I wanted the song to have a nostalgic atmosphere, so I suggested that we shoot it at a school. The director filmed not only inside the school, but also on the way to school, and the film is filled with nostalgic scenes. There are many scenes in the film that will make anyone feel nostalgic, such as a bus running along a country road, a candy store near the school, and drinking ramune (soda pop) there.


─ There were also scenes of high school girls' backs, which Ms. Asakura looked back on as if she were looking at herself in the past.

Asakura: There were a lot of imaginative images, and I wondered if this was what it meant. There is a lot of room for imagination. As you just mentioned, that girl may be me in the past, or she may be smiling and looking at the current high school students, and there are many ways to view the scene. The music video is completed by the imagination of everyone who sees it, so I would love to hear your thoughts on it.