V (Hiroyuki Sawano album)

V is the fifth studio album by Hiroyuki Sawano's vocal project SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]. It was released on January 18, 2023, through the Sony Music label Sacra Music.[1] Five singles were released from the album: "Avid", "Hands Up to the Sky", "LilaS", "Outsiders" and "Lemonade".

V
Studio album by
SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]
ReleasedJanuary 18, 2023 (2023-01-18)
Recorded2021–2022
Genre
Length38:00
LabelSacra Music
ProducerHiroyuki Sawano
SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] chronology
iv
(2021)		 V
(2023)
Singles from V
  1. "Avid"
    Released: April 25, 2021
  2. "Hands Up to the Sky"
    Released: June 9, 2021
  3. "Lilas"
    Released: March 20, 2022
  4. "Outsiders"
    Released: April 10, 2022
  5. "Lemonade"
    Released: December 21, 2022
  6. "FakeIt"
    Released: January 1, 2023

Background

Various singles were released prior to the album announcement, the first one being "Avid / Hands Up to the Sky". The first track off the album, "Avid" with Japanese singer mizuki from the band UNIDOTS, was released on April 25, 2021, as a pre-order track from the single and was used as the 1st ending theme for the TV anime series 86.[2][3] A music video was released on May 29, 2021.[4]

The second track off the album, "Hands Up to the Sky", featuring the Japanese singer Laco, was used as the second ending theme for the TV anime series 86 and was released on June 9, 2021.[5] A music video was released on June 12, 2021.[6]

The third single off the album, "LilaS", was announced to be a collaboration with Japanese singer Honoka Takahashi from the band Regal Lily. It was released on March 20, 2022, and was used as the ending theme for the last episode of 86 Second Season.[7] The animation used on the episode was released on Sawano's Official YouTube Channel.[8]

The fourth track off the album, "Outsiders", featuring the Japanese singers Junki Kono and Sho Yonashiro from the boy band JO1, was used as the ending theme for the TV anime series Fanfare of Adolescence and was released on April 10, 2022.[9][10] The music video was released on the same day.[11]

On June 10, 2022, Japanese singer Aska announced on his official blog that he had collaborated on a song by Sawano but no further details were revealed.[12] On November 11, 2022, Aska revealed the name of the song, being 地球という名の都 (lit. "A City Called Earth").[13]

On November 19, 2022, Sawano announced V on Twitter and his official website and that it would include the four tracks previously released. He also revealed that he would work on the anime movie The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh as theme song composer with the song "Lemonade", sung by Japanese singer XAI.[14]

On November 29, 2022, Sawano started to unveil tracks from the album via his official Twitter account, uploading a short video preview teasing the vocalist from each track, using the hashtag "nZk_v" and these teasers were uploaded every Tuesday before the release.[15]

On December 1, 2022, 地球という名の都 (lit. "A City Called Earth") with ASKA was officially announced by Sawano on his Twitter with a short audio teaser and comments from both musicians about how was the creative process for the song.[16][17][18]

On December 8, 2022, the song "Balk" with Japanese singer suis from Japanese duo Yorushika was announced in Sawano's Twitter.[19][20]

On December 15, 2022, the song "7th String" with Japanese singer ReN was announced on Sawano's Twitter following the V teasers.[21][22]

On December 21, 2022, the song "Lemonade" with Japanese singer XAI was released on streaming services along with the premiere of the movie The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh. Along with the release announcement, another track was added to the album tracklist, "Colors" with Japanese singer Hata Motohiro.[23]

On December 26, 2022, the song "Colors" with Japanese singer Hata Motohiro was announced in Sawano's twitter.[24] In the comments about the collaboration of this song, Sawano stated that he was able to work with Motohiro as they were involved in the production for the anime film One Piece Red. The song will have a short anime film with the same name, produced by Tetsuro Araki and animated by WIT Studio.[25]

On December 31, 2022, it was announced during the broadcast for the Fate Project for New's Eve 2022 that Sawano produced the theme song for the TV special Fate/Strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn. The song called "Fake It" with Japanese singer Laco was released on January 1, 2023. Along with the announcement, the tracklist was published.[26]

On January 5, 2023, it was announced that an instrumental version of the album called V (Instrumental) would be released digitally on the same day of the album's release.[27]

Musical style

When creating an album, Sawano stated that he not always start with a concept in mind. Instead, he primarily creates what they want to at that time.[28]

Sawano has described the album to be more focused on overseas sound, specifically on EDM-rhythms and Synthpop, rather than the previous albums which were more focused on a Rock sound. Even though the album was created with this style in mind, "FakeIt" is a rock song with electronic rhythms in the background and is the only song with this style on the album.[29]

In regards to the lyrics, Sawano has said that he often uses English lyrics, but this is solely to create a groove. Therefore, rather than wanting the pronunciation to be perfect, he is more interested in hearing how the melody sounds when it is sung in English.[30]

When he decided to work with suis from Yorushika, he had two songs that he felt they were suit for her: A ballad and an upbeat song. In an interview, suis declared she decided to sing "Balk" - the upbeat song as she felt it was a one-time opportunity.[31]

When asked about "7th String" and the collaboration with ReN, Sawano stated that he composed the song in his twenties, and when he heard Ren's voice, he thought it was fitting for him to sing it.[32]

Track listing

All music is composed by Hiroyuki Sawano

V track listing
No.TitleLyricsPerformed byLength
1."IiIiI" SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]2:04
2."FakeIt"
  • Benjamin
  • cAnON.
SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Laco2:54
3."Lemonade"
  • Benjamin
  • cAnON.
SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:XAI2:48
4."Balk"cAnON.SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:suis (from Yorushika)2:41
5."7th String"
  • Benjamin
  • cAnON.
SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:ReN4:47
6."Outsiders"
  • Benjamin
  • cAnON.
SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Junki Kono & Sho Yonashiro (JO1)2:50
7."Hands Up to the Sky"cAnON.SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Laco3:29
8."LilaS"Honoka TakahashiSawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Honoka Takahashi4:06
9."Avid"cAnON.SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:mizuki4:09
10."Colors"cAnON.SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Hata Motohiro2:51
11."Chikyū to Iu Na no Miyako" (地球という名の都)ASKASawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:ASKA3:30
12."V" SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]1:50

Notes

  • "FakeIt" is stylized as "FAKEit".
  • "Balk" is stylized as "B∀LK".
  • "Colors" is stylized as "COLORs".

Charts
Chart performance for V
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[33] 9
Japanese Digital Albums (Oricon)[34] 3
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[35] 7

References
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  2. "6月9日、SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 10thシングル『Avid』発売決定！ | SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト". SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | Sony Music (in Japanese). Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  3. SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]の「Avid (feat. mizuki) - Single」 (in Japanese), April 25, 2021, retrieved December 19, 2022
  4. SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:mizuki『Avid』Music Video, retrieved December 21, 2022
  5. "6月9日発売の最新シングルは両A面！ TVアニメ「８６―エイティシックス―」の新たなエンディングテーマ『Hands Up to the Sky』収録決定！ | SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト". SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | Sony Music (in Japanese). Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  6. SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Laco「Hands Up to the Sky」Music Video ８６―エイティシックス― ver., retrieved December 21, 2022
  7. "TVアニメ「８６―エイティシックス―」第2クール最終話エンディングテーマとなる、SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]新曲『LilaS』の配信スタート！コラボレーションムービーも公開！ | SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト". SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | Sony Music (in Japanese). Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  8. SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Honoka Takahashi『LilaS』×TVアニメ「８６―エイティシックス―」Collaboration Movie, retrieved December 21, 2022
  9. "SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 11th Single『OUTSIDERS』発売決定！ | SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト". SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | Sony Music (in Japanese). Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  10. "SawanoHiroyuki【-30k】Staff / 🎧解禁情報🎧 - Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  11. SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:河野純喜＆與那城奨 (JO1) 『OUTSIDERS』 Music Video, retrieved December 21, 2022
  12. "△!＃）✣✫﹆❀⦿✖︎・・・。｜BLOG｜ASKA Official Web Site 「Fellows」". ASKA Official Web Site 「Fellows」 (in Japanese). June 10, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  13. "完成だ｜BLOG｜ASKA Official Web Site 「Fellows」". ASKA Official Web Site 「Fellows」 (in Japanese). November 3, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  14. "SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 5th Album「V」発売決定＆新曲「LEMONADE」が映画『七つの大罪 怨嗟のエジンバラ 前編』主題歌に決定！ | SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト". SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | Sony Music (in Japanese). Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  15. "澤野弘之 [nZk] / SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] :??? ▼[nZk] 5th Album「V」 2023.1.18 Release - Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  16. "ASKAさんをゲストボーカルに迎えた、SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]の新曲「地球という名の都」、1月18日発売のアルバム「V」に収録決定！ | SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト". SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | Sony Music (in Japanese). Retrieved December 20, 2022.
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  24. "澤野弘之 [nZk] / SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] :Hata Motohiro「COLORs」- Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  25. "SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]最新アルバム「V」に、秦 基博が参加！新曲「COLORs」が「TOHO animation ミュージックフィルムズ」コラボソングに決定！ | SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト". SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | Sony Music (in Japanese). Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  26. vv-alkline (December 31, 2022). "SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]新曲「FAKEit」が、TVスペシャルアニメーション『Fate/strange Fake -Whispers of Dawn-』テーマソングに決定！". SawanoHiroyuki.com (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  27. "SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]最新アルバム「V」、インストゥルメンタルバージョンの配信が決定！ 本日1月5日（木）よりiTunesプリオーダー開始！ | SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト". SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] | Sony Music (in Japanese). Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  28. Inc, Natasha. "澤野弘之×suis（from ヨルシカ）｜SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]新曲「B∀LK」が引き出す、ボーカリストsuisの新たな魅力 (2/2) - 音楽ナタリー 特集・インタビュー". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved January 27, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  29. "SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 憧れのASKAとのコラボレーションも実現。5thアルバムに注いだ澤野弘之ボーカルプロジェクトの今のモード". THE FIRST TIMES (in Japanese). Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  30. Inc, Natasha. "澤野弘之×suis（from ヨルシカ）｜SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]新曲「B∀LK」が引き出す、ボーカリストsuisの新たな魅力 - 音楽ナタリー 特集・インタビュー". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved January 27, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  31. Inc, Natasha. "澤野弘之×suis（from ヨルシカ）｜SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]新曲「B∀LK」が引き出す、ボーカリストsuisの新たな魅力 - 音楽ナタリー 特集・インタビュー". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved January 27, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  32. "SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 憧れのASKAとのコラボレーションも実現。5thアルバムに注いだ澤野弘之ボーカルプロジェクトの今のモード". THE FIRST TIMES (in Japanese). Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  33. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2023-01-30" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  34. "Oricon Top 50 Digital Albums: 2023年01月30日付" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  35. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of January 25, 2023". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved January 25, 2023.
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