Shuta Hasunuma Phil: Shin Phil (LP)

Name: Shuta Hasunuma Phil: Shin Phil (LP)
Brand: SHOP windandwindows
Price: 4400 JPY
Availability: InStock

Hasunuma Shuta Philharmonic Orchestra's third album, released in 2023. It is a work with a soft impression. Guest vocalists include xiangyu and Shiozuka Moeka from Yoh Kamigaku, and it also includes a rework of Yoh Kamigaku's "Mayoiga." My recommendation is the eighth track, "BLACKOUT," which is over 11 minutes long. Composed of a motif composed on the day of the blackout, it is a song that progresses quietly while releasing inner passion. It is also included in their live repertoire. (Manager)

Since the release of their previous album, they have performed at FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL '19 in 2019, performed a solo concert at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall, and made headlines with an unannounced guerrilla live performance in Ginza. They have also returned to Japan from Brooklyn, New York, following the pandemic, released the remote streaming single "Imr" by Philharmonic members, performed the independent live streaming concert "#API Spiral," performed "○→○" at Orchard Hall during the state of emergency, appeared at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, participated in soundtracks for dramas and films, launched a solo digital music release project, and performed "Memory" at Ebisu Garden Hall at the end of 2022.

This is the first studio album in about five years from Shuta Hasunuma Phil, his main project, which has not slowed down even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but has only become more active.

The album, which began production in 2019 and was completed in winter 2022, took approximately three years to complete. It contains 10 tracks. The title "symphil" is a word coined by Hasunuma. "Sym-" means "together," and "phil-" means "to love something." Combining these two words, the title "Symphil" conveys the nuance of a "new Phil." The album's overall theme is "recovery" and "coexistence." It explores themes of "cherishing yourself, and living together with others and the world outside of yourself, while affirming it." How can we create a situation that embraces and understands the current state of modern society, without seeking change or resistance? The concept was born out of recording the Shuta Hasunuma Philharmonic for the first time in several years in the summer of 2022, and the conversations and losses experienced during the recording period with people, friends, and colleagues whom we hadn't seen in a while.

The album includes the previously released songs "HOLIDAY," "Eco Echo," and "Koukou," as well as the album's version of "Mayoiga," a song by Hitsuji Kagaku featuring Hasunuma Shuta Philharmonic. It also includes the light-hearted "GPS," which opens the album, "Yu 5ji," a reworking of the theme song for the NHK General News program "LIVE! Yu 5ji," and the over 10-minute instrumental masterpiece "BLACKOUT."

The mix was done by band member Toshihiko Kasai, the mastering was done by Dave Cooley, the jacket illustration was by Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck, and the design was done by Akira Sasaki.

Track List