Singer-songwriter Sakai Yu continues to be at the forefront of the pop scene, garnering overwhelming support both in Japan and overseas for his unique harmonies created with a sound that makes full use of his colorful vocal timbre, clear, silky voice, and radical expressiveness. His new album, "Yu Are Something," his first in about three years since "4YU," will be released on January 23, 2019.
In advance of the album's release and its distribution on subscription services, a special event titled "Sakai Yu x Spotify Special Night" was held at the Spotify Japan office on December 6. Sakai Yu himself gave commentary on all the songs on the album, and in addition to previews, he also performed a live acoustic performance. This article reports on the event.
The audience that gathered at the venue that day were 20 people selected by lottery in advance. For fans who couldn't make it to the venue, the event was live-streamed on Sakai Yu's official Twitter and Spotify Japan's official Instagram Live, making it a premium night that stirred the hearts of everyone who was there, both offline and online, and was intoxicated by it.
Sakai Yu himself announced the details of the new album at the event, saying, "It's an album that I've put my all into, like it's my calling card." The album contains 13 tracks that he carefully selected from over 50 songs, based on the theme of "ROOTS MUSIC." The album includes his first overseas recording experience (in Los Angeles and New York, Sakai's musical roots), as well as collaborations with a wide range of artists across genres, from Takuya Kuroda, Cypress Ueno, Zeebra, and Emi Okamoto (Friends), to drummer James Gadson and guitarists John Scofield and Ray Parker Jr. During the mini-live performance in the latter half of the event, Sakai performed two songs, "Magic Waltz" and "You're Something," both acoustically and vocally. "You're Something" is the final track on the album, and Sakai described it as "a very important song to me." He revealed the story behind the song, saying, "I transformed the sounds I heard from within myself into piano and vocals; it's a special song, like a cry from my heart." He then recreated one of the reasons why Sakai Yu is considered a genius: his solo multi-instrumental composition using loop machines and keyboards, in one chorus of "Brooklyn Sky." The audience witnessed a precious moment when his improvised harmonies reverberated throughout the venue.
Currently, three tracks from the album, "Brooklyn Sky," "Kakkon MAYBE," and "You're Something," are available exclusively on Spotify, a subscription service.
In advance of the album's release and its distribution on subscription services, a special event titled "Sakai Yu x Spotify Special Night" was held at the Spotify Japan office on December 6. Sakai Yu himself gave commentary on all the songs on the album, and in addition to previews, he also performed a live acoustic performance. This article reports on the event.
The audience that gathered at the venue that day were 20 people selected by lottery in advance. For fans who couldn't make it to the venue, the event was live-streamed on Sakai Yu's official Twitter and Spotify Japan's official Instagram Live, making it a premium night that stirred the hearts of everyone who was there, both offline and online, and was intoxicated by it.
Sakai Yu himself announced the details of the new album at the event, saying, "It's an album that I've put my all into, like it's my calling card." The album contains 13 tracks that he carefully selected from over 50 songs, based on the theme of "ROOTS MUSIC." The album includes his first overseas recording experience (in Los Angeles and New York, Sakai's musical roots), as well as collaborations with a wide range of artists across genres, from Takuya Kuroda, Cypress Ueno, Zeebra, and Emi Okamoto (Friends), to drummer James Gadson and guitarists John Scofield and Ray Parker Jr. During the mini-live performance in the latter half of the event, Sakai performed two songs, "Magic Waltz" and "You're Something," both acoustically and vocally. "You're Something" is the final track on the album, and Sakai described it as "a very important song to me." He revealed the story behind the song, saying, "I transformed the sounds I heard from within myself into piano and vocals; it's a special song, like a cry from my heart." He then recreated one of the reasons why Sakai Yu is considered a genius: his solo multi-instrumental composition using loop machines and keyboards, in one chorus of "Brooklyn Sky." The audience witnessed a precious moment when his improvised harmonies reverberated throughout the venue.
Currently, three tracks from the album, "Brooklyn Sky," "Kakkon MAYBE," and "You're Something," are available exclusively on Spotify, a subscription service.
