Interview] Selected album "UP!!!!", where you can feel the steady footsteps of musician Yui Makino.

Starting this summer of 2019, Yui Makino will enter her 15th anniversary as an artist. In advance of this, a two-disc select album "UP!!!!", which looks back on her career to date will be released. The two albums, with distinctly different concepts, allow you to enjoy the "past" and "future" of Yui Makino, who is both a singer and a performer. You can enjoy the "past" and "future" of Yui Makino as both a singer and a performer.

This 2-disc set connects Yui Makino's "past" and "future".

─ This year marks the 14th anniversary of your debut, right?

Makino: That's right, before making a new start on my 15th anniversary, I wanted to put out an album that summarizes my career to date, so I planned this select album, "UP!!!!". This is "UP".

─ Is it correct to say that Makino-san's debut as an artist was in April 2005 with "Omna Magni" (the ending theme song for the TV anime "Genesis of Aquarion")?

Makino: "Omna Magni" was my pre-debut, and my official debut was "Amrita" (the theme song for the movie "Tsubasa Chronicle: Princess of Tori Kagome no Kuni"), which was released as my first single on August 18 of the same year. So August 18, 2020 will be the 15th anniversary of my debut. This year, I would like to accelerate toward the 15th anniversary, so I decided to use the album title "UP!!!! I felt it was a title with a lot of momentum.

─ ─ I felt it was a title with a lot of momentum.

Makino: Thank you (laughs). The first thing I thought about when making the select album was which songs to include and in what form. When I was selecting the songs myself, I suddenly thought that the album title "UP!!!! I suddenly had an idea that "UP" would be a good title for the album, and I gave it to the staff in a light-hearted way at a meeting. Then, from the next meeting, the title "Yui Makino New Album 'UP' (tentative)" was listed on the proposal, and I knew my idea had been accepted. That was how the title was naturally decided.

─ ─ "UP!!!!" When the title "UP" was announced, Makino-san's official comment was attached. You expressed your thoughts on the album with many "ups," such as "show up," "grow up," and "power up.

Makino: Yes, the title of the album is exactly as he said it would be. 4 "! is an image of the 14th anniversary.

The "up!!!!" album is a 2 CD set. is a set of two CDs, with Disc 1 and Disc 2 each having their own concept.

Makino: Disc 1 contains songs that I have developed together with fans and staff during my live concerts, and Disc 2 contains songs that look back on my past. I call my performances "live concerts," because there are two elements to them: a "live" performance where everyone enjoys the music together, and a chance to see Yui Makino playing the piano. We wanted to express this in this album as well, so Disc 1 is a live performance, and Disc 2 is a collection of songs with a concert atmosphere.

─ So, at the same time as expressing Makino's "past" and "future," the "live" and "concert" elements are also allocated to each disc. Since this is a select album, all of the songs included are existing songs, but there are 8 newly recorded and updated songs out of the 22 songs on the album. Most of them are on Disc 1.

Makino: There are 7 newly recorded songs on Disc 1, all of which are live arrangements that are different from those released on the CD. They are also performed by the band members at the live concert. On the other hand, the songs on Disc 2 are all songs that I played the piano myself during recording. I had originally made a playlist of piano songs for myself, and when I played it to my aunt in my hometown, she said, "If you put out a CD with only piano songs like this, I would love to listen to it when I am driving in the car. Those words became the inspiration for the song selection for Disc 2.

─ ─ The atmosphere of Disc 1 and Disc 2 is clearly different, and I felt that they are select albums that condense Makino-san's two charms.