It also became a staple on TikTok, though not in the way hits usually bloom up on that short-form video app (primarily as memes where the music is accessory or secondary). It reeled in YouTube views, but also performed well on subscription streaming (moving quickly up the Spotify Japan Viral 50…and even crashing into the Global Viral 50). Rather, it gradually built steam on every social media platform. While it got attention after upload, ‘Racing Into The Night’ didn’t have a single moment of virality catapulting it to the mainstream. Along with what feels like inspiration from Sotaisei Riron and a re-do of what it felt like Gesu No Kiwami Otome was doing before Enon Kawatani blew it with scandals, YOASOBI felt like a culmination of many trends brought together over a dashing piano melody. Projects such as Zutomayo and Yorushika found similar success thanks to a mix of intricate music, animated videos heavy on storytelling and a more melancholy approach to lyrics than what would usually be tagged as pop music (see also Kenshi Yonezu, the country’s biggest artist who helped make this in style). ‘Racing Into The Night’ came out at the tailend of a year where similar pop units consisting of producers hailing from the Vocaloid realm and singers were enjoying newfound mainstream attention. This isn’t a happy sounding song concealing dark lyrics it’s complex from the jump, and only becomes heftier as the climatic leap comes into view. Yet he leads plenty of space for Ikuta to sing, as she moves from a more traditional delivery to a swifter sing-speak to turning frantic in the final passage. Ayase draws from a decade-plus of Vocaloid music to craft a galloping backdrop that moves urgently thanks to the beat but hides a lot of sonic detail helping to cast the heavy emotional atmosphere and make the payoff all the stronger. YOASOBI pull it off, too, making this one of the better J-pop songs of the last year. The preview video leading up to their debut goes as far as to quote the story, setting the stage for a song that boils down the macabre narrative into a speedy four-and-a-half-minute song. Yet from the get go, YOASOBI drew from ‘Temptation Of Thanatos’ directly. This is pop music - it’s meant to be an upbeat escape from the everyday. J-pop rarely turns to short stories touching on mythology, Freudian studies, and the constriction caused by modern life for source material. His songs prior to YOASOBI resemble the frantic cuts assembled by Kenshi Yonezu’s Hachi project, among many other independent creators. His early work follows a familiar formula from that online-centric community - Ayase creates uptempo numbers drawing from rock and electronic music, while carving out space for the digi-delivery of Vocaloid avatars such as Hatsune Miku. Ayase, who hides his real name, comes from the Vocaloid world. YOASOBI consists of producer Ayase and vocalist Rira Ikuta (better known as ikura). The way it happened - and what it means - says a lot about Japan and the country’s music industry in this moment. Yet these factors plus many more have transformed ‘Racing Into The Night’ into the song of 2020 thus far in Japan ( give or take a Hoshino Gen quarantine cut), and pushed YOASOBI into the spotlight. They also rarely cite online fiction as their primary source of inspiration. Few out-of-left-field success stories sound this sad, for one, the usual upbeat vibes year-defining hits spraying forward, replaced by lyrics about lovers killing themselves, with a touch of the supernatural weaved in. Surprise smash hits are common in Japan - the last few years alone have seen the goofy charms of Pikotaro and DA PUMP become year-defining numbers - but ‘Racing Into The Night’ is odd by any standard.
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