Interview with Momo Asakura, a new Momo Asakura, enveloped in a pale and lovely light. Talks about her new single "Saiiro Glass

Momo Asakura celebrated the 5th anniversary of her solo career in November 2021. Her 10th single "Stained Glass" will be released on March 2, 2022. This non-tie-in song is based on the concept of "full of happiness" and conveys her current feelings to her fans. We hope you will enjoy the warm, gentle, and somewhat more mature voice of Momo Asakura.

I want to give and receive happiness in equal measure.

─ Last November marked the 5th anniversary of your solo debut. This single is the first one after that. First of all, please tell us how you feel on your 5th solo anniversary.

Asakura: I have been active without being conscious of the time, and when I realized it had been 5 years, I felt like it had been 5 years. I remember vividly the moment when I was first told that I would be making my solo debut, and I realized once again that it had already been five years.

───The new single "Chromatic Glass," which is over five years old, has a completely different atmosphere from the previous song "Pinky Hook," and has a more mature feel to it.

Asakura: Yes. Pinky Hook" was a song that was all about being cute, but this time I changed the direction and made it a calm, fresh, and relaxed song.

─ ─ What did you first think about when writing the new song?

Asakura: Since this is the 10th single for the 5th anniversary of my solo debut, I wanted to sing "This is how I feel now" in my own words. I discussed this with the staff and came up with the concept of "full of happiness." In terms of the tune, I thought a medium ballad with a sparkling feel would be good, so I searched for the perfect song to fit the image from among many candidates.

─ ─ The composer is Hajime Mitsumasu. What was the point in choosing this song?

Asakura: I chose this song because the entire song conveys the "full of happiness" feeling that is the concept of this project, and the chorus has a wonderful atmosphere, as if we are bathed in the light of hope for the future.

─ The lyrics were written by Junko Miyajima, with whom you have worked on songs such as "Sayonara Ferris Wheel" and "Smash Drop. What kind of communication did you have when writing the lyrics?

Asakura: When I gave her a rough idea of what I wanted the lyrics to be about, saying, "I want you to depict a moment when I am feeling happy," she gave me a questionnaire about how she thinks about happiness. When I answered the questions "What does happiness mean to me?" and "When do I feel happy?

─ ─ When do you feel happy, Mr. Asakura?

Asakura: "When I take a bath and just relax," or "When I am at home on a rainy day" (laughs). (Laughs.) I am the type of person who feels happiness in ordinary things in my daily life. Another question was, "Do you want to give happiness or do you want to receive it?" (laugh).

─ How did you answer the question?

Asakura: I answered, "I want to give and be given, in equal balance. If I am biased toward one or the other, I think that someday I will lose the balance toward the other person.

─ ─ I feel that your answer is well woven into the lyrics.

Asakura I think so too. The part that comes out the straightest is in the second verse, where it says ""I really want to love and be loved"" with "", and I thought, "Oh, this is exactly what I wrote in the questionnaire" (laughs).

─ ─ That part left a strong impression on me as I listened to the song because I felt that the singer was not only passive in terms of love, but also wanted to love from her own side.

Asakura: I think it is better for relationships to be "fifty-fifty" in any case. In fact, I am the type of person who doesn't like it if it isn't.

───The lyrics have a strong intention, so even though it is a song about everyday life, you can feel a message from the lyrics. I thought that was wonderful.

Asakura: From the beginning, I wrote the song as a non-tie-in song to express my own thoughts and feelings, and through the questionnaire I exchanged with Mr. Miyajima, I was able to create a song that contains my own words.