Yorushika

I’ve been a fan of Yorushika’s music for several years now.  A friend introduced me to their music before they became more popular and I fell in love immediately. This isn’t my first time talking about their music here, but I haven’t spent much time lingering on it. They’ve not done a lot of anime openings – as far as I know – but they did do one for Kaina last year and then another one for Frieren that is currently airing. Following up Yoasobi for that show was a big ask, but I think they nailed it. But those songs aren’t the only good songs they’ve made, as a matter of fact, there’s many amazing songs in their discography so today I’d like to introduce you to several of them.

And let’s start with what I think is their very best song: Hitchcock.
This is one of those songs where listening to the lyrics is absolutely vital. Luckily for us, Yorushika has provided us with English subtitles so that you can understand what the song is about. Because it’s a wonderfully poetic song. On top of being catchy, it’s very deep. It talks about a young student asking their teacher about life, and when he gave up on his own dreams. It’s one of those songs that’ll likely make you cry if you’re feeling like it’s talking about you. My favorite line in this song – which isn’t an easy choice to make – is the following:

Why is it that the character for ‘happiness’幸 includes the ‘money’￥ sign?
Is it on purpose that leaving out a single stroke turns it into the character for ‘pain’ 辛?

This is far from the only deep line in this song, and I sound like an eager literature teacher when talking about this song, but it’s music like this that genuinely gets me excited to talk about lyrics. I love the beeps and the boops too, don’t get me wrong, but when you can feel the emotion in a song, it’s a different experience. Speaking of beeps and boops, let’s talk about a few other songs, many of which I have little to no understanding of their message.

The clouds and the ghost (no, it wasn’t easy to find the title, since Spotify lists it all in Japanese) is a wonderfully experimental track that has all sorts of strange ambient noises. There’s the sound of water drops falling, a bell ringing and a sort of clock ticking all accompanied by the beautiful singing of Suis, the vocalist for this band. Say it from the same album is great too, and probably more well known in general. They’re both from the 2017 album Summer Grass.

If you’re like me and you like your pleasant vibe, you’ll probably vibe (I’m so creative) with Rain with cappuccino. I particularly enjoy the guitar in this song as well as the very artsy, but beautiful animated music video. Of course the song is about more than just cappuccino, but it’s also about the drink itself. See the video for yourself to truly enjoy this one.

Lastly, let’s talk about what I would guess to be their most familiar song to the western audience. I’m talking about their song Haru, which is the second opening for the incredibly popular – and rightfully so – anime Frieren: Beyond journey’s end. This song is about spring, just like the title suggests. It fits well in front of a slow paced fantasy anime that focuses on the detours more than the main road.

I know I said last in the previous paragraph, but I would be remiss to not mention the song that Suis, the aforementioned vocalist of Yorushika, sang together with Eve, another incredible Japanese artist. Heikousen is gorgeous. Both singers are incredibly talented and the accompanying animated music video, just like the other ones we’ve seen for Yorushika’s songs, is incredible. It’s got everything and feels like a mix between Ghibli and Your Name. It’s got a bigger lasting impact than half of the seasonal anime you’ll watch. Check it out for yourself.

I’d love to talk about music on this blog a little bit more often. I absolutely love music, and listen to it a lot, I’m just not very confident that I can write about it in a way that is remotely interesting. Then again, I won’t learn how to do so if I don’t practice with it every so often. So I just watch music react channels on youtube and try to improve what I do. Let me know if there’s any (Japanese) artists you really like that might fly under the radar. That or tell me which of the songs I recommended you ended up putting on repeat. No matter what, thank you for reading.