J-pop singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu continues to dominate charts, records, and streaming services — but his newest album titled Stray Sheep adds to an already indisputable level of success. Yonezu’s Stray Sheep is his fifth studio album, featuring the chart veteran “Lemon” which has amassed over 500 million views, 3 million digital sales, and 500,000 physical sales in Japan alone. The singer is also the only Japanese artist to hit 5 million Youtube subscribers, shattering a record and obtaining 2.8 billion combined views for his music videos, proving his expansive reach across every platform imaginable. If that isn’t a strong enough start to the year, the singer recently took his music to Fortnite’s Party Royale, trending number one worldwide.
Kenshi initially gained traction for his passionate sound and songwriting strengths, leading to the singer being featured on one of the largest anime properties, My Hero Academia, and ultimately earning 2 million monthly listeners for Spotify in the US, with at least 200 million streams on the platform with combined streams. In preparation for his new album, Kenshi dropped the music video for his brass-mixed single “Kanden” on July 10, which has achieved the 30 million views milestone and the first million was within two hours of release, charting at No. 2 on Billboard’s Japan Hot 100 with pure sales exceeding 150,000 units.
Regarding the new video release, we learned that Kenshi wanted to do something a little lighter, telling us, “I wanted to film something with a comical touch but not stretching it – natural with a little bit of laughter. That’s why we asked Director Yoshikyuki Okuyama. From the very first meeting with [Okuyama], we totally hit it off.” He elaborated, “We are the same age, the stuff we watched was the same and our conversations were like, ‘Oh yeah, I totally understand.’ And, even though it was the first meeting, Okuyama-san expressed his important words and that’s when I knew it was going to be something great.”
As far as what specifically made the relationship feel natural, Kenshi says, “His description was ‘you’re like a disco ball that reflects the world’s light in many directions’ and it felt really comforting to me. I often think about what kind of human being or musician am I, so these words were on point. The way I create is, rather than being eager to initiate a point, I absorb all the people, things and situations going on around me, reflect on it, and then recreate it in my own way.” He concluded, “The words, ‘reflects the world’s light’ was so convincing. Thanks to those words, it was a huge guide for the album, making me want to create a gem, a crystal which is reflected on the album’s cover image.”
Tracks from Stray Sheep like “Campanella” provides a magically layered experience as he melts his powerful range with a mixture of dance beats that will entrance you for the almost four-minute length. The video was just released as well, already surpassing seven million views in the first week. Kenshi finds his groove in some of the more relaxed, smooth bass vibe of his song “Flamingo” which feels like a strong transitional inclusion.
The artist’s album Stray Sheep feels like an extravagant showing of his musical range, with influences like the accordion fused J-pop hit “Decollete” or the edgier, instrumental-heavy songs like “Himawari” and “Teenage Riot” his willingness to experiment with different ideas is an admirable trait for someone with an established Vocaloid presence. Though there are some fun, uptempo tracks to fulfill your desire for something energetic, there are pockets within the album where Kenshi selectively places instrumentals and flashier production choices to spotlight the raw emotion he’s capable of delivering in “Spirits of the Sea” or “Machigai Sagashi”.
A common theme that seems to be explored through this album is his relationships with people, which Kenshi tells us is an undeniable influence in his music. The singer-songwriter explains, “In the past few years, I started to notice that I’m living life thanks to the help of others. The same goes for making a pop song. Because in the end, music isn’t possible unless someone listens to it. It’s unachievable without someone on the other side. This became more definite for me, in the process of making pop songs.”
Kenshi continued his thought on his evolution as an artist, further adding, “The history of Kenshi Yonezu’s music is probably a story to head in that direction. There is no meaning if I create something alone. I’ve realized that the healthiest way to create music, is to make music based on the relationship with all the different people around me. Especially, these days, I see how that pays off. I self-covered “Machigai Sagashi” and without Masaki Suda, I would definitely not be who I am today. With all the different people around me, my music has evolved and has become something I am satisfied with. Of course, there’s a lot of tricky issues when dealing with other people. But thanks to those people, I am who I am today. And I’m sure, there are times that I hurt them too.”
To share such an almost experimental sounding album while finding ways to maintain your originality and expand your catalog is something important to any performer and Kenshi has proven himself as a powerful singer-songwriter who is sure to continue sharing his stories through music for years to come. With Kenshi’s album out now, make sure to check out Stray Sheep on Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, Amazon, and iTunes.
