Saori Hayami and 5 creators' "cultural exchange". The mini album "Sister Cities" is completed!

Saori Hayami always delivers high-quality music to her fans. The mini album "Sister Cities," with music provided by renowned sound creators and sung with lyrics by Saori Hayami, has finally been completed with nothing but high expectations.
The music was provided by Kenichiro Nishihara, who is active in jazz, Katsu Yokoyama, who handles a wide variety of music from vocals to accompaniment for plays, NARASAKI, a rock artist who has worked with Hayami on the anime "Masked Noise," etc., and Yasuyuki Horigome, formerly of Kirinji, who Hayami is a big fan of. and Tomoya Tabuchi of UNISON SQUARE GARDEN, all of whom are big fans of Hayami's work. They talked at length about the production of each song!

A colorful, yet cohesive album!

─ ─ The mini-album "Sister Cities," which you talked about when we interviewed you about your single "Statice" at the end of last year, has finally been completed. Sister Cities" means "Sister Cities" in Japanese, and I had heard in the last interview that the mini-album was about Ms. Hayami going out and having a cultural exchange with 5 sound creators, so the theme of the album was "Travel" and "Freedom". So it made sense that the theme of the album was "travel" and "freedom".

Hayami: When I had a direct meeting with Mr. Katsu Yokoyama this time, these keywords somehow came up, and I felt that the direction of the album was decided. We asked people with their own worlds to write songs for the album, and although the sound was colorful, I think it ended up being a cohesive piece.

───The first track is "yoso" by Kenichiro Nishihara, which has been distributed in advance. As I mentioned before, you had a song by Nishihara in your personal song list, right?

Hayami: Yes. When the director saw my list of songs for the first half of 2019, he suggested, "Why don't we ask Mr. Nishihara to join us?" I am very honored that he accepted. I am very honored that he accepted.

Hayami: How did you like the finished music?

Hayami: Of course, it was wonderful. He said that he created the song as if he was writing it for himself, and it was filled with the essence of Mr. Nishihara.

Hayami: How was it writing the lyrics?

Hayami: I started by listening to demo recordings over and over again in various situations, such as while driving in the evening or in my room in the morning after getting up, to get an idea of what the song would be like. My first impression of the song was that it was stylish and flirty, but after listening to it over and over again, I realized that it also had a slightly sad and melancholy feel to it.

───The lyrics also mention "unfamiliar city," and the title "yoso" in Kanji means "place beyond," doesn't it?

Hayami: Yes, it is an image of a strange city on a trip. There is a certain pleasure in being in an unfamiliar place, but there are also times when I feel helplessly uneasy.

Hayami──Those two sides of the feeling of being on a trip are connected to the atmosphere of the song, aren't they? The song has a groove and a jazzy feel, so I thought the lyrics also rhymed, creating a good groove.

Hayami: Yes, I was a little conscious of the rhymes. It is a rhythmical song, so I thought it would be more fun for me to sing the lyrics. In fact, the recording went very well.

Hayami: The vocals were low and mature.

Hayami: The key is a little lower than usual. I thought it would be better if the vocal tension had a languid feel to it, so that's how I sang it.


─ The second song, "mist," was composed and arranged by Katsu Yokoyama. How did you like this song?

Hayami: When we were discussing with Mr. Yokoyama, I gave him an abstract image. I told him that I was thinking of "water" rather than "fire," "moon" rather than "sun," and "blue" rather than "red," and he nodded in agreement. I think this song is a concrete expression of the common understanding that we had from the beginning. The next step was for me to give form to it in words.

─ How do you feel the lyrics turned out?

Hayami: "Travel" and "freedom" were themes that came up when I was talking with Yokoyama-san, and I think the lyrics symbolize those themes. The song contains both the goodness of travel and the comfort of freedom.

───The literal translation of the title is "fog.

Hayami: Yes, because it seems like I can go anywhere freely (laughs). (Laughs) Even if I don't actually go on a trip, I hope I can make you feel that way in your everyday life. I would be happy if you can feel a little freer by listening to this song.

───As the title suggests, the arrangement has a misty, cool feeling to it.

Hayami: That's right. Moreover, I heard that Yokoyama-san recorded this song on his travels. Thanks to that, the sound has a realistic, realistic feel. I know Mr. Yokoyama's work from both soundtracks and character songs, so when I heard the finished product of this song, I knew it was his sound.


─ ─ The third song "Zarame" was composed and arranged by NARASAKI-san.

Hayami: I have worked with Mr. NARASAKI on various songs, and we often get together as friends. He told me that this song was composed by seeing me talking and developing my image of Saori Hayami.

Hayami: It has a very gentle melody, doesn't it?

Hayami: It is a gentle song, isn't it? I, on the contrary, thought it was very typical of NARASAKI when I heard this song. There is something in the calmness that is hard to describe as light or dark. I have always felt that a very ambiguous and exquisite sense lurks deep within the song, and it was the same when I received this song.

─ ─ From your point of view, Mr. Hayami, who knows NARASAKI well, this song is very typical of NARASAKI.

Hayami: This song is country-ish, but NARASAKI-san is capable of writing songs in any genre, so I think the impression of each song varies widely. However, no matter what genre of music he writes, I feel something unique to NARASAKI. It can be gentle or sad, bright or dark ....... This is all just my own impression.

─ ─ It's an interesting sensory story. What kind of image did you have in mind when you wrote the lyrics to NARASAKI's song?

Hayami: Mr. NARASAKI told me what he imagined when he wrote the music. I imagined a wide wilderness with a road running through it and the sun near the horizon, whether it will rise or set in the future. The picture is majestic, but I wanted the content to reflect on my own progress in my daily life.

─ ─ The lyrics give a strange impression. You mention the word "Zarame Road." What kind of road is that?

Hayami: This is a word that came to my mind naturally when I was listening to the demo that NARASAKI-san sent me. What kind of road is it? ......, I can only say that it is an inspiration (laughs).