I Don't Like Mondays. Aims Towards the Sky with Latest Release!

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“Sora no Aosa ni Miserarete” Jacket Cover

Following their theme tune for the current season of hit anime series ONE PIECE, four-piece rock band I Don’t Like Mondays. released a brand-new single this past week on March 7 titled  “Sora no Aosa ni Miserarete”. A lyric video was also published on YouTube to celebrate the release of the single.

I Don’t Like Mondays. is a Japanese rock band consisting of YU (vocals), CHOJI (guitar), KENJI (bass) and SHUKI (drums). The band are quickly gaining popularity in Japan, thanks to their unique sound that combines YU’s distinctive lyrics with catchy melody lines and the members’ strong taste in Western music, along with their stylish look. Their January 9 single “PAINT” is currently being used as the theme tune to the latest season of ONE PIECE, adding to the band’s incredible momentum. This has now been followed by the release of new single “Sora no Aosa ni Miserarete” and its lyric video.

“Sora no Aosa ni Miserarete” is a pure coming-of-age love song that is perfectly suited to the onset of spring. The song is centered on the kinetic rock sound it inherits from ONE PIECE theme tune “PAINT”, and it poetically spotlights an innocent young man’s pure heart among the arrival of spring and the budding seeds of love. Another highlight is a chanted choral section in the middle that symbolizes the band’s hope that the day will come soon when the live music industry recovers to full health, and we can all sing together once more. Check out the song along with the lyric video below along with the streaming link here.

Comments from the band members

YU (vocals)

“I wanted to write a love song that traces the innocent and pure feelings of youth, which I try not to forget even as an adult, and I chose to express this tale of boyhood against a backdrop of spring, the season of new beginnings. I truly cannot wait for the day when we can sing this song live together with everyone.”

CHOJI (guitar) 

“I aimed to play this song with a combination of strength and delicacy, like the wind. This is our first song in a while to have a guitar solo. In order to avoid the solo becoming too overbearing, I played an arpeggio while creating a tone that felt just right, made by combining a chorus effect together with an effect pedal called a POG. The guitar line is even deeper than on our last song, ‘PAINT’, and I hope you will try to recreate it yourself. The chorus has a difficult melody line, too, but I hope you’ll sound cool when you sing along.”

KENJI (bass) 

“With all the restrictions at live music venues these past two years or so, the overwhelming amount of extra time we have all spent at home, and even the changes in the way we listen to music now, I wanted to create songs that will connect with your heart even more deeply when you listen to them alone. Our new song ‘Sora no Aosa ni Miserarete’ is about our heartfelt wish that we can all join together soon for a live experience, sing together and become one. I hope that the future will bring an even better environment where we can enjoy the wonderful sensation of singing together.”

SHUKI (drums)

“In 2022, which we began with the release of ‘PAINT’, we are paying extra special attention to creating music with a band sound, a live sound, with the hope that the live music scene can recover even more than last year. The song includes a section that everyone can sing along with, and we tried to find a sound that carries a sense of speed and clarity without sounding too fresh; and as a result, we ended up sprinkling YU’s vocal part with some digital processing. It’s a song packed with contradictory elements, such as analog and digital sounds, live instruments and sequencers, innocence and dirt, quietness and explosion, and so on. I hope you will listen to it over and over, and enjoy the playful musical approach.”

Ken's Ongaku Go For January 2022

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Springboarding into 2022, it’s that time of the month: January’s Ongaku Go! We at OTY would like our readers to know what was filling our ears the past month. Each track is available across all digital music streaming platforms, with Apple Music featured on this site.

“PAINT” by I Don’t Like Mondays.

I haven’t been keeping in touch with IDLM as much I have wanted to, so to my surprise I was really thrown aback when “PAINT” came out. The funny thing that I absolutely love about this work is how un-IDLM it is; it doesn’t really have a hook, so to speak, which they usually do. But I found myself going back to it throughout the month since it came out. Its earwormability either due to the fact that Yu’s vocals really don’t overextend the composition, or Choji’s guitar work throughout, “PAINT” became that nice rock tune I needed this month. 

Be sure to check out the music video for “PAINT” below, along with the song here!

“unitbath (Jazz Version)” by showmore

Honestly, this group is one the ones that I will always keep championing till their disbandment. This new mood they have adopted throughout 2021 and now 2022, of updating what it means to be a neo-jazz singer, has really captured me. Nothing really exemplifies this like their new Jazz Attitude series, and they came out swinging with Vol. 1 velvet, which was released in December. While I think the release as a whole is absolutely solid, “unitbath” really takes the cake. While it might be a tad on the long side, as a whole it absolutely works and cannot wait for the next volume of this new series.

Be sure to check out the track here!

“Good bye Claire” by Kaho Nakamura

Honestly, Kaho Nakamura was one of the surprises I found this month, and a vocalist who isn’t afraid of breaking the boundaries to explore something new. The electronica synth throughout this number is fresh and I absolutely love it; alongside Nakamura’s vocals, it just works. After listening to just this one slice of her discography I can’t wait to explore the rest of her work and do a deep dive eventually.

Be sure to check out the lyric video below, along with the track here!

“Life still goes on” by Awesome City Club

While people might have “Wasurena” hangover from Awesome City Club, I love the new direction they’ve gone and how they’ve stuck to their morals to not follow a same style or feeling as their previous hit. While I do think it’s not entirely rewriting anything about their style, “Life still goes on” still really flaunts how solid they are as a band. I can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for them and I hope they’ll have more solid releases just like this one.

Check out the lyric video for “Life still goes on” below, along with the song here!

“You Raise Me Up” by EXILE ATSUSHI

Originally sung by Josh Groban back in 2003, “You Raise Me Up” was again given a new spin, this time by EXILE ATSUSHI. With this work, ASTUSHI goes above and beyond what he’s typically been doing with his solo covers. It woulda been simple to just do an English cover of this, but, like with his previous covers, he translates it into Japanese and adds his own flare to make it his own. This is something I absolutely love. I honestly cannot wait for the full release of his solo best-of album which will drop later in the year. 

Be sure to check out the music video for “You Raise Me Up” below, along with the track here!

I Don’t Like Mondays. Paints A New Flag for the Long Running Anime ONE PEICE!

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“PAINT” Digital Jacket Cover

“PAINT”, the new theme tune to long-running anime series ONE PIECE by four-member rock group I Don’t Like Mondays., is available as a digital-only single now, following its release on January 9.  This is the first ever anime tie-up for I Don’t Like Mondays. The music captures the sense of speed and exhilaration that is typical to ‘ONE PIECE’, accompanied by lyrics by vocalist YU that carry a powerful message about overcoming any obstacles in your path and repainting the world in your own color. The result is an anthem that can bring courage to all who hear it. 

The music video has also been released. In the video, the band members perform against a video screen showing epic nature scenes that capture the atmosphere of ONE PIECE, resulting in a dynamic and powerful video.

In addition, the band’s official Twitter account is holding a follow and retweet campaign where six lucky fans will win “a special Ichiban Kuji ONE PIECE Wano Kuni Hen - Act 3 - figure”. Full details are available on the official I Don’t Like Mondays. Twitter account and homepage – enter now for your chance to win!

Comment from I Don’t Like Mondays. vocalist YU

“I realized that I have been a fan of ‘ONE PIECE’ for more than 15 years, since I was at junior high school, and even now as an adult it still has an influence on me. To be able to perform the theme tune to such a revered series is an unbelievable opportunity. To be totally honest, I wasn’t sure whether we could create a song that would be worthy of ‘ONE PIECE’.

“I reflected on all the times that ‘ONE PIECE’ has given me the courage to face adversity, and in doing so, I knew the Straw Hat Pirates had my back this time too. After that, it was simply a case of believing in our ability to write the song, and the result was ‘PAINT’. The song carries the message of surpassing our own limitations.

“Just as ‘ONE PIECE’ gave me the courage to confront my fears and hesitations in the present even when the future is hard to see, I hope this song and ‘ONE PIECE’ can encourage others to feel the same.”

Comment from I Don’t Like Mondays. drummer SHUKI

“I never thought we’d have the opportunity to create a theme song for ‘ONE PIECE’.

“When writing the song, we paid close attention to the setting of ‘ONE PIECE’. Being involved in a series that has meant so much to us since we were kids meant our feelings overlapped and combined, and this allowed us to reflect on the hurdles each of us have faced in the past. We were able to work closely together as we reworked the song over and over, aiming to create something that would be worthy of this series. Having been fans of ‘ONE PIECE’ for so long, we naturally felt just like the heroes from the series working together to overcome adversity.

“In order to capture the driving force of this series that is beloved all around the world, and to give a feeling of movement and excitement, we focused on producing a strong guitar sound, which is central to us as a band. In addition, to capture the feeling of the wind pushing the sails of a ship, we added vocal effects and synthesizer, and we changed the rhythm in each section of the song so that it would feel like the chapters of an adventure story. We wanted to create a song that would stand the test of time, so we did our best to avoid the influence of any particular era.

“We hope this song will leave an impact on the kids who will grow up watching this show just as we did, the adults who have been influenced by this series over many years, and above all, the characters from the show who we love so much!

Be sure to check out the song in question here along with the music video below!

I Don't Like Mondays. Brings the Humor With Upcoming Album!

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Four-member rock band I Don’t Like Mondays. announced that they will be releasing a brand new album, Black Humor, August 18. This will be the latest album by the band since FUTURE back in August of 2019 and will be their fourth full album overall.

A total of 17 songs, including four new ones, will be included in a number of digital singles released over a year and a half from November 2019. The album will also drop with five editions: three standard editions which will be CD-only or feature a bonus DVD/ Blu-ray and two limited editions which will include three DVD/ Blu-rays. The standard edition DVD/ Blu-ray will feature I Don’t Like Mondays.’ Toyosu PIT live performance which took place back in February of 2020 while the limited edition DVD/ Blu-rays will feature the live performance from their I Don't Like Mondays. SPECIAL DIGITAL LIVE Vol.2 which aired back in November of last year along with six music videos and a 48-page photobook. 

As we look forward to the upcoming release be sure to check out the music video for the track “BAKA” along with the pre-order for Black Humor below!

Standard edition

Standard edition DVD/ Blu-ray

Limited edition DVD/ Blu-ray

I Don't Like Mondays.「Black Humor」

DISC 1 CD

・gift

・Plastic City

・全部アナタのせいなんだ

・Sunflower

・モンスター

・MR.CLEVER

・ENTERTAINER

・東京エキストラ

・ミレニアルズ ～just I thought～

・地上を夢見る魚

・愛言葉

・馬鹿

With Others

DISC 2（Live Concert）※DVD / Blu-ray

・FANCY GIRL

・TOKYO BROTHERS

・LEMONADE

・TONIGHT

・UP TO U

・AITAI

・FIRE

・PLEASE

・ZERO GRAVITY

・CALL ME

・DO YA?

・Freaky boy

・WE ARE YOUNG

・TRY FOR YOU

・Plastic City

・gift

・DIAMOND

DISC 3（Live Concert）※DVD / Blu-ray

・モンスター

・Plastic City

・全部アナタのせいなんだ

・LEMONADE

・TONIGHT

・MR.CLEVER

・Sunflower

・CALL ME

・UP TO U

・Girlfriend

・DO YA?

・ENTERTAINER

DISC 4（Music Videos）※DVD / Blu-ray

・CALL ME

・Plastic City

・MR.CLEVER

・ENTERTAINER

・ミレニアルズ ～just I thought～

・地上を夢見る魚

I Don't Like Mondays. Shows What It Means To Be An Entertainer!

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Four member rock band I Don’t Like Mondays. released their newest digital single titled “ENTERTAINER”. This is I Don’t Like Mondays. sixth digital single for the year and follows up “MR. CLEVER” that released last month. “ENTERTAINER” is a smooth soft rock track and is produced by Esme Mori. Esme Mori is known for working with both popular and upcoming artists such as chelmico, Awesome City Club, Anonymouz, and many more. Currently, “ENTERTAINER” is available on all digital streaming platforms. Check out the audio video below!