AIMYON 's new single "Until I Know Love / On a Night When Sakura Falls" is her 11th overall and her first double A-side. The theme song for ABEMA's "Koi to Ookami niwa Damasarenai," which was released in February, and the theme song for Nippon Television's Saturday drama "Konto ga hajimaru," "Until I Know Love," were both not newly written songs, but were picked from a huge collection of songs as "songs I want to sing now," and were then given life (see the interview for "Until I Know Cherry Blossoms" here).

I was approached by a director of a drama that had a lineup of amazing actors of the same generation, and at first I wrote about seven songs, one chorus at a time. Of course, there were some good songs among them, but when I listened back to the demo of "Ai ni Shirumade," I felt like "This might be it!"

The drama has a theme like "Life wasn't supposed to be like this," and if it's a story about people of the same generation struggling, rather than just following the drama, I felt it would be better to give them a song that sings about my life as a person in my late 20s. I originally wrote this song in 2017, but when I look at the lyrics, I can see that I was struggling a lot, and I really felt the frustration I felt about the music I could only write at that time, so I thought this song was it.

AIMYON made her major debut in November 2016. She released three singles in succession, "Ikiteitadayo na," "Ai wo Tsutaetai Datoka," and "Kimi Wa Rock Wo Kikanai," and her first album, "Seishun no Excitement," released in September 2017, became a hot topic, but AIMYON looks back on her first year as a major label and says, "It was really tough."

The way artists sell these days is when they catch fire on social media and their songs sell like hot cakes all at once, but when I debuted, TikTok wasn't around yet, and it wasn't so common for songs to suddenly become popular. At that time, you still had to do live shows steadily, but I hadn't done that many shows up until then, so I didn't have much experience with live shows, and it was hard to carry a lot of luggage and stuff like that.

Also, in 2017, I released "Kimi Wa Rock Wo Kikanai," and I was super confident about that song. But it didn't get heard the way I imagined it would, and that may have been quite a shock. I was like, "Seriously?" (laughs). It felt like I was so confident that I ended up getting the better of it, and my first year on the major label was really tough.

"Until I Know Love" was born as she continued to write songs after not getting the results she hoped for. The opening line, "It was no one else who led me in the direction I wanted, but I have no confidence, don't laugh," reveals her feelings at the time, but she also sings about her own life, saying, "I can't die until I know love! I'll follow the fate that's been guided to me and live today and tomorrow."

I think romance songs and love songs are different, and I think "Naked Heart" and "Sakura ga Furu Yoru wa" are romance songs, but "Ai ni Shiru Made" is a love song. For me, this song is about "I wanted love from music," so I think of it as a love song. I was having a hard time at the time, but just like now, there were people who supported me, and it's not like I didn't know about love, and I didn't think I wasn't loved.

And yet, when I wrote "I can't die until I know love!", I wonder if I wasn't aware that music loved me. When I use the word "love," I can't help but think of romantic love, but there's more to it than that, right? The protagonists in "Konto ga hajimaru" have a love for comedy, and I have a love for music. You're free to listen to it however you like, but I hope you'll listen to it by replacing it with something that's important to you.

Her music career, which she had felt "was not supposed to be like this," soon took a turn for the better, and everyone knows how she has progressed since then. "Kimi Wa Rock Wo Kikanai" has become a highlight song at live performances, and is now back in the spotlight as the CM song for "Tanrei Green Label," in which she also appears. So how does AIMYON feel about the lyrics of "Ai wo Shiru Made" in 2021?

I also sing, "I want to meet someone I'll never meet, ride on the infinitely spreading clouds, and see a rainbow I've never seen before," but now I've met many people I would never have met in the past, been able to do various activities, and seen scenery I've never seen before, so what I sang here has come true. However, humans continue to wish for things that they don't have, and when something comes true, another conflict arises, and I think that will continue forever. Among the songs in my stockpile, there are some that I feel uncomfortable singing now, but "Until I Know Love" doesn't feel strange when I sing it now, and I actually thought, "I want to sing it now."

Although the scenery has changed since her first year on the major label, AIMYON sings about her unchanging love of music in "Ai ni Shiru Made." The power of her words is conveyed directly and profoundly through the arrangement by Yusuke Tanaka, and her singing, which is stripped away from the reckless singing of her early 20s, and which now feels more robust at 26 years old.

First, I talked with Tanaka about the arrangement, and I was really worried about whether to go the traditional route or have some fun. "Sakura ga furu yoru wa" was a traditional song, and I thought, "Maybe I should try something a little strange?", but after talking it through, we decided, "No, it's definitely better to go the traditional route with this song," and so we proceeded with the arrangement. I've always wanted people to listen to the lyrics, but this time the lyrics are the main focus, so I've subtracted a lot in terms of the arrangement, and I think it's impressive that Tanaka was able to come up with this simple direction.

On the other hand, the third track "Miniskirt and Highlights" was produced by Motoi Kawabe of the four-member band Mitsume, who Aimyon and Aimyon are meeting for the first time, and the members of Mitsume participated in the recording and arrangement. Mitsume, who are known for their DIY activities and have gained many fans mainly in the indie scene, and AIMYON also have something in common: they are both Spitz fans.

Kawabe-san had always wanted to produce someone, and we happened to have a mutual acquaintance, so the director suggested, "Kawabe-kun, what do you think?" It was his first time producing, so he was nervous, but apparently Kawabe-san had written in his elementary or middle school graduation album that he wanted to be a producer, so he told me, "You're the person who made my dream come true" (laughs).

It's an arrangement that no one else could have done, with a Mitsume feel, so even during the recording I wondered, "Can't she do the chorus?" I think everyone thinks it's an unexpected combination, but it turned out to be an interesting song.

The song is a love story told from the protagonist's perspective, with a minimalist arrangement typical of Mitsume. At just under three minutes long, the lyrics are excellent, combining seemingly mismatched words like "miniskirt" and "highlights" to help the listener imagine the type of woman the protagonist admires.

It's been a long time since I used the first person pronoun "ore" since "Horoyoi" released during my indie days. I wrote this song during a period last year when I was making a ton of short songs, and it was also influenced by Spitz. When I interviewed Masamune together with him, he said, "I'm not good at making long songs, so I make short songs," and it's true that Spitz songs are short, with no big chorus, and they don't even have a bridge. But the lyrics are really strong, and I wanted to try making songs like that.

Originally, I didn't want to use direct words like "I love you," and I was trying to write it in as few characters as possible, but it still ended up being 5 minutes long, so I thought I could carefully select the words even more and make it so that the 5-minute song and the 2-minute song are saying the same thing. However, it's hard to tell a story if it's short, so I thought I needed words with a punch, and when "Miniskirts and Highlights" came up, I thought I could shorten the title.

AIMYON is currently holding her first acoustic tour, "AIMYON Acoustic Tour 2021 "I Fell in Love with Scars and Devils!" The first day's performance at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall in Tokyo was canceled due to the declaration of a state of emergency, and there are still many uncertain days ahead, but AIMYON will deliver her voice all over the country, from Hokkaido to Okinawa.

Every time I play and sing, I write a song for the title of the live show or tour, and although the tour itself was canceled last year, I wrote a song called "Wind and Ribbons". I wrote that song before the coronavirus outbreak, and the lyrics happened to be, "I wish we could defeat the darkness and illness that lies ahead together." So, this time I wanted to take the tour title from that lyric as well, and used the part, "If I could fall in love with the wounds and demons that await me," to give the title an image like, "Last year, the tour couldn't be held because of the darkness, illness, wounds, and demons, but this time, I can fall in love with the wounds and demons and hold the tour."

This is my first tour with just playing and singing, and I always get nervous about doing something for the first time, and I'm a little scared that I might show my vulnerable side, since I left it all up to my bandmates, but I've been playing and singing since I was a teenager, so I don't want to be too nervous. I don't think you have to force yourself to stand up, and I don't mind if you fall asleep (laughs). I know everyone is tired from staying at home all the time, so I hope you'll come with that kind of feeling and take your time to listen to the music.

Interview & Text / Atsushi Kaneko