The record falls into my eyes
Falling into your eyes Record

There's always the same tension in an arena tour, but I've gotten used to the scale and use of the stage in a good way, and it's been really fun. However, because there are more shows than ever before, it's tougher on my stamina and throat, and this is the first time I've really been taking good care of my throat. When I inhale before a live performance, I think to myself, "I'm really doing what an artist should do" (laughs). I started doing that because I want to give everyone who comes to see me a good song through this tour. I have a strong desire to show that I'm singing with more energy than I do on TV, so I've started to pay a lot of attention to my throat.

She performed with her band, ran around the large stage with a handheld microphone, and captivated the audience with just her acoustic guitar and singing, and her performance fully demonstrated her charm as a singer-songwriter that she has cultivated up until now. Because it was not an album tour, the set list included a wide range of new and old songs, and the communication with fans during the MC, which is a major attraction of AIMYON 's live performances, was intimate and made the size of the venue seem smaller than it actually was.

This time, I made a runway for the first time, the stage rose up, and I was able to try various new challenges, and it was fun to discover that "I can do this kind of thing," and it also feels like I've condensed everything I've done as a singer-songwriter up until now. "SIXTH SENSE STORY" and "Meet Meet" were still like "self-introduction tours," and the set list had a lot of single songs, but this time there are many nostalgic songs and coupling songs, and I feel that it's finally a tour that I can think of as "my arena tour."

After recording in the middle of this tour, her fourth full album, Hitomi e Ochiru yo Record, is finally complete. The 13 songs, including singles released after "Oishii Pasta ga Aru Kiiteiru" such as "Ai wo Shiru Made", "Heart", and "Hatsukoi ga Naiteiru", are a fulfilling work that could only have been made by the current AIMYON, five years after her major debut.

Of course, I enjoyed making the previous albums, but this time I made it with even more playfulness. I was on tour, so my schedule was packed, but even so, I said, "Let's go to Okayama!" and recorded in Okayama, and I made it without being too tense in a good sense, so it was a lot of fun. "Your Heart," which I recorded in Okayama, was recorded on the spot, like "Let's try playing it backwards," and "Shinpi no Into The Land Of Mystery" had the theme of "youthful folly," including the lyrics, so I had the guitar played poorly and deliberately messed up the harmony lines to make it sound clumsy. In the first or second year after my debut, I was just like, "I have to make good songs," so I think I was worried about having fun, but now I think I have more room in my mind.

The whistling, clapping and psychedelic development in the latter half of "Your Heart" show a sense of playfulness, while "Into The Land Of Mystery" starts with the lyrics, "I called these white pants youth and put them on," which makes you smile. Furthermore, "Persona no Kioku" features percussion by Shinji Asakura, also known as "Asa-chan," who is familiar from live performances, and you can tell they must have enjoyed recording it. The low-key singing voice and lyrics like "I'll stab and kill all traces of you in my heart" have an atmosphere that is similar to their earlier songs.

My singing style has changed a lot in the last five years, and I've gotten to the point where I can make my voice match the arrangement without even thinking about it, so I've changed the tone of my voice quite a bit for each song on this album. My biggest selling point is that I'm a singer-songwriter, but five years have passed since my major debut, and if I had to sell something else, I think it would be my voice. I was born with a convenient singing voice that can sing both high and low notes, so I want to use it more freely, and recently, whether it's at a live show or on a recording, I feel like my voice changes automatically depending on the content of the song or the arrangement.

"I wanted to create a song with a single kanji character title," said "Sugata," and while it evokes an extramarital affair, "Tsuyoku ni Natte Nda, Blue" stands out with its choice of catchy words such as "a jacked heart," "rendezvous," and "a once-in-a-lifetime encounter." It is a AIMYON song written in Aimyon's unique style.

I wrote "Tsuyoshi Natchattanda, Blue" recently, but since this song adds variety, I decided to put it in the album right away. I've been writing lyrics like this since I was a teenager, with a yearning for it, but as I've grown up, I feel like my choice of words has become more realistic and more in line with my real age. When I was an indie artist, I wrote "Horoyoi" just out of yearning, so the content didn't match my age, but now I've gained experience, and it has an image of being half yearning and half admiration.

"3636" is a gem of a mid-tempo ballad based on real experiences, with a folky melody and piano and organ arranged by Sunday Kamide. The addition of "delusion," another weapon alongside "longing," dramatically colors the everyday scenery.

The memory of the delivery box is from a real experience, and the pin code "3636" is my birthday (March 6th). But one time, for some reason, it wouldn't open, and I thought this could be a song. "The delivery box won't open" = "My heart is closed." I have a tendency to be delusional, and even I wonder "why would that be?", but I wrote this song in a flash. It's the song on the album that smells most like my life, and that's why it's the one I feel the most attached to.

The album begins with "Futaba," in which AIMYON, now 27 years old, calls out to the 18-year-old generation, "When you grow up, you'll fall in love too." The album closes with "Interview," which expresses her unchanging feelings, and "Until I Know Love," conveying the true Aimyon of today, five years after AIMYON major debut.

There was an idea to end with "Futaba", and because I've always ended with a slightly darker song up until now, I also thought about ending with "Interview", but after singing "I've been made fun of in the past" in "Interview", I thought it would be better to end with the message of "Let's live today and tomorrow" from "Until I Know Love". I didn't particularly think about it, but I feel like the number "5th year" was always in my head.

"From the corner room on the 4th floor" from "Instant Sixth Sense" and "Living like that" from "I Heard There's Delicious Pasta" seemed a bit offbeat as the final tracks on the album, but "Until I Know Love" not only closes the album, it has a mood that inspires both the artist and the listeners for the life that continues on, while savoring the various feelings that have arisen over the past five years of activity.

"Ai wo Shiru Made" was originally written in 2017, so it's a song that has always been nostalgic for me. Five years have passed since my major debut, and I often look back on it, and the more I sing this song, the more I feel a little ticklish. However, I still feel that "When it comes down to it, it's not anyone but myself who has guided me to where I want to be, but I have no confidence, it makes me laugh." Before my debut, I never felt "painful" or "sad" about music, so I still feel conflicted and think "Why do I feel this way about music that's supposed to be fun?", and sometimes I feel unsure of myself.

"Interview," with AIMYON deep in her heart.

I rarely write songs out of anger or sadness, but I wrote this song in one go, letting my anger take over. I wasn't actually angry after being interviewed, but I saw an article on the internet and thought, "Some people compare me like this, they think like this," and I was frustrated and annoyed, and I thought, "I still have these feelings inside me," so I decided to put it on the album. When I was a teenager, I was often told, "You're singing about rebellious spirit," and I think I still have those feelings. So, some people might think the last two songs are heavy, but that's just how I am. I always have something like anger somewhere, and I think I can't write without it.

The experience and confidence they have gained since their major debut. The longing and rebellious spirit they have had since before their major debut. The impressive title of this album, "Records Fall into Your Eyes," is full of the beauty of what changes and what doesn't change, and it seems to show that even as the listening medium has changed from records to CDs and subscriptions, the excitement and joy of listening to music remains the same.

I just happened to come up with the title "I Heard There's Delicious Pasta," but this time I wanted to go back to the patterns of "Excitement of Youth" and "Shunkanteki Sixth Sense," and this title suddenly came to mind. At first it was "CD Falls into Your Eyes," but then I remembered that Spitz had "Sazanami CD," so I thought I'd go with "Record." The human iris is like a record, so I thought it would be stylish and wonderful to drop a record into your eye like putting in contact lenses and have it resonate inside your body. I've liked the previous titles, but this one is my favorite. I'm the only one who uses this title, and if you search for it, it's only me who comes up. That kind of desire for recognition hasn't changed (laughs).

On November 5th, Aimyon will hold "AIMYON Acoustic Live 2022 -Searchlight- in Hanshin Koshien Stadium" in her hometown of Nishinomiya. What will AIMYON feel when she stands alone on the mound and is bathed in a searchlight?

I can always see the lights of Koshien Stadium from the rooftop of my parents' house and hear the cheers, so it's really my hometown. Koshien Stadium is a symbol of Nishinomiya, where many heroes were born, and it's a place that the locals are proud of. So I thought that my first solo live performance in my hometown should definitely be at Koshien Stadium, not a hall, and that's always been one of my goals since my debut. However, it's a bit different to say that I'm "giving back." Of course, I love Nishinomiya and am grateful to it, but first of all, I want people to enjoy the live performance itself and make it a day like a festival. I'd be happy if the whole town gets excited as a result. For me, it's like going to meet the person who dreamed of becoming a singer-songwriter in Nishinomiya, or rather, I feel like going to check the answer.

Text by Atsushi Kaneko