Duo Yorushika waste no time. The pair — consisting of Vocaloid producer n-buna and a vocalist named suis — released their first full-length album this past spring after getting some buzz over the last few years thanks to their jaunty pop tunes. The clip for the song “That’s Why I Gave Up On Music” racked up views on YouTube, all while presenting a pretty clever take on J-pop melodrama with a bit of music industry self-awareness weaved in.
No stopping there in 2019, though. Yorushika already have their second album in the can and plan to release it on August 28. To keep the faithful fed, they shared a video for new song “Hole in the Heart” earlier this week…and promptly saw it slingshot up the YouTube Trending list in Japan. I guess they don’t have to worry about falling off before their sophomore effort comes this summer. Watch the video below.
“Hole in the Heart” serves as a bit of a reverse from “That’s Why I Gave Up On Music,” in that the lyrics this time are a bit more straightforward but the video takes them very literally. This is a song about regret and a feeling of emptiness inside after someone important sets off, topped off by some really dramatic cries of deciding to grow old alone. It’s worth noting that fans of Yorushika believe this is part of a story between two characters, and these are almost like love letters between them. I have no doubt that adds an extra layer of emotion to “Hole in the Heart,” but this should also stand on its own free of any theorizing. And it does! These two do galloping rock-pop accented by piano and guitar really well, giving even a pained number a zip that can keep the happy folks listening engaged.
The video, meanwhile, finds a puppet designed to reflect the lyrics (a literal hole in its center! Blurred out face!) wandering around what appears to be a coastal town in Sweden. That’s pretty much it, but besides always being impressive when marionettes are involved, it ends up being a great visual to go alongside the song, nailing the emotional drama in a clever way. Don’t think their winning streak ends anytime soon.