{"id":2247045,"date":"2026-01-23T13:44:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2247045"},"modified":"2026-01-23T13:44:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:44:22","slug":"on-new-solo-album-laugh-balancing-two-identities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/on-new-solo-album-laugh-balancing-two-identities\/","title":{"rendered":"On New Solo Album ‘Laugh’ & Balancing Two Identities"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tAs a solo singer-songwriter and as YOASOBI<\/a>\u2019s vocalist ikura, Lilas maintains a presence on the global<\/a> stage while showing no sign of slowing her creative stride. Now, roughly three years after her last solo release, she has completed her new album Laugh<\/em>. Created alongside YOASOBI\u2019s whirlwind international schedule, the album distills the experiences of living through the past three years and reflects her sustained reexamination of her own voice.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn this conversation with Billboard JAPAN<\/a>, the 25-year-old songstress speaks at length about the different \u201cswitches\u201d between her solo work and YOASOBI, and the resolve she arrived at regarding her own voice through the making of this album.\u2028<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s been an incredible year for you. You\u2019ve just finished YOASOBI\u2019s biggest tour to date, and you were making this album at the same time. I want to ask about the difference in expression between YOASOBI\u2019s ikura and Lilas. How does that switch exist for you at this point?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not like there\u2019s a clear button I press and the switch flips. With ikura, I\u2019m singing songs created by someone other than myself. In YOASOBI\u2019s case, there\u2019s the world Ayase has built, and it\u2019s like I\u2019m being allowed into it. During recording, I\u2019m constantly thinking about whether I can respond to what\u2019s been created with my voice, so my mindset naturally shifts. It\u2019s less a switch and more something that inevitably changes as I face the song itself. When I\u2019m standing in front of the mic in the booth, I\u2019m always thinking about being able to deliver everything I\u2019ve cultivated so far, including technique, to the fullest whenever it\u2019s asked of me. That\u2019s a feeling I definitely don\u2019t have when I\u2019m singing my own songs.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Lilas, the stories and experiences that come from within me become the songs, so I\u2019m imagining what\u2019s best for each piece as I create it. Naturally, the expression changes when I sing them too. With YOASOBI, Ayase handles everything from lyrics to arrangement, and because I write songs myself, I have deep respect for creators. I understand how demanding the process is, how deeply you immerse yourself in that world, and where you shouldn\u2019t overstep. I give everything I have to singing the role I\u2019ve been entrusted with. With my solo work, I\u2019m responsible for that foundational part myself, so it\u2019s about being sincere toward it. Since the greatest weight is in the songwriting process, the way I approach things naturally shifts depending on the situation. It\u2019s hard to put into words.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat makes perfect sense. As you said, the foundation is different, and the worlds of YOASOBI and Lilas are clearly distinct. The free motivation you\u2019ve been nurturing as a songwriter alongside YOASOBI feels fully packed into this album.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThank you. This past year was really a year of nonstop live shows. I managed to make it through to the end somehow, but there were 63 shows total, starting with an Asia tour, then Europe, London, and straight into a 40-date nationwide tour. Live performances are supposed to be something out of the ordinary, but they started feeling like everyday life. It was my first time doing the same set for 40 shows, and I wanted to properly turn the daily encounters with audiences and those moment-by-moment emotions into songs.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLatata\u201d was written early in the tour, so I was able to put my own words and melodies to what I was experiencing through YOASOBI. I really feel that having both activities allowed me to bring in the best of each. \u201cIn Bloom\u201d is also a song about my experiences with YOASOBI. The album as a whole feels like a reflection of the past three years, days spent running nonstop with two faces, Lilas and ikura.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn Bloom\u201d in particular really shows the physical instincts you\u2019ve built up as ikura. Maybe those muscles weren\u2019t being used, or couldn\u2019t be used, on your previous album. It\u2019s like you\u2019re using YOASOBI ikura\u2019s strength to propel Lilas\u2019s worldview forward. There\u2019s a real sense of freedom there.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThank you. The song had turned into something with constant key changes before I knew it. I wanted to make something playful, where you can\u2019t predict what comes next. It was the first song I released in 2025, and it ended up pulling me forward throughout the year. It\u2019s one of the tracks on the album that means a lot to me.<\/p>\n

\n\tEach song on this album carries such deep meaning. Even a simple phrase conveys an incredible amount of emotion. There\u2019s such density, such richness of information. Technically as well, it feels like an album where you confronted the essence of being a vocalist, asking what can be communicated even by just singing \u201cla la la.\u201d That\u2019s why you leave those simple melodic turns as they are. It feels like you were able to trust your core as a singer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think I\u2019ve started to be able to trust it. Through the process of making this album, and in my creative work overall, I\u2019ve been thinking again about how I want to use this voice of mine, both speaking and singing, over the course of my life. \u201cAppeal\u201d is a bit too simple a word, but how much can I do with the elements of this voice? How many works can I create, how much expression can I achieve? I want to devote my life to that, whether I\u2019m making solo music or working with YOASOBI.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve kept polishing and facing this voice since I was born, and because I have confidence in that, it feels like the songs have finally caught up to it over these past three years. There\u2019s still so much about my voice that I haven\u2019t fully learned how to handle, but I feel like these three years brought me closer to doing interesting things with it and creating good music.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe final track, \u201cTime Machine,\u201d was newly written, correct?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tYes. There was a defining moment behind it. It was a song I could finally write after sorting through a lot of things. Something that\u2019d been a huge part of my life was gone, and once time passed and I could organize my feelings, I realized I still didn\u2019t want to return to a world where none of it had existed. That\u2019s what the song is about.<\/p>\n

\n\tUltimately, what I wanted to convey is that even if I felt that way at times, time can\u2019t actually be turned back, and all I can do is move forward. I\u2019ll thrive on it and keep going.<\/p>\n

\n\tI hadn\u2019t written anything this detailed before, something that would allow people to feel my own experiences so directly. It was a matter of resolve. As a singer-songwriter, I can\u2019t help but turn my experiences into songs, and deciding whether to hide or reveal them out of embarrassment didn\u2019t feel right. I wrote it all the way through out of a kind of personal sense of responsibility.<\/p>\n

\n\tBecause the events that inspired this song had been there throughout these three years leading up to the album, I wanted to close with it. Not that it neatly wraps up those three years, but by releasing it as a part of Laugh<\/em>, it felt like I could step forward as a new version of myself. That\u2019s why I placed it at the end.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ll also be doing solo shows outside of Japan<\/a> this time. How do listeners from other countries react to your solo endeavors?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019ll be my first time preforming in South Korea, and my first headlining solo show outside of Japan. I\u2019ve been surprised by how much people are already listening to my solo music. A lot of K-pop artists have recommended my songs in different media, and that\u2019s led to many listeners in Korea. So we decided to take the first step in Korea and scheduled the concert there.<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you discover new things when you perform overseas?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve only experienced overseas shows with YOASOBI, but it\u2019s always a strange feeling. Music can really reach people wherever they are, at any moment in their lives. That makes me feel the potential of my own singing voice. How far can this circle expand? With YOASOBI and with my solo work, I think a lot about how far my expression using this voice can reach the world, how much it can accompany someone\u2019s daily life even if they don\u2019t live where I do.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve made a wonderful album. Is there something you\u2019re aiming for as a solo artist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI still don\u2019t think in terms of going global or anything like that. With YOASOBI, we\u2019re all on the same ship, so when the world starts to feel within reach, if there are still new possibilities that can open up through what I\u2019m able to do, or something big we could take on together, then I\u2019d like to see that by giving everything I have to the role of ikura.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFor my solo work, I just want to turn my experiences into music as honestly as possible and hope it can become something like a charm for someone\u2019s daily life. That feels like the extent of what I can do. Beyond that, I\u2019d be happy if lots of people listen to it, not only in Japan but around the world, but making that the goal feels like it would shift my axis again.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2025, I\u2019d originally thought I\u2019d give equal time and energy to both ikura and Lilas, but what I imagined as 5:5 turned into something like 9:9. I rediscovered how difficult and challenging it is to wear two hats. My mind and body are still just one, so I\u2019m reconsidering my goals. Results will come on their own as I keep going. Whether they\u2019re good or bad, I can\u2019t predict them now. For now, I just want to express what I genuinely want to do, the music I want to make.<\/p>\n

\n\tAbove all, what hasn\u2019t changed is my desire to deliver my singing voice, my vocals, to as many people as possible. I\u2019ll use ikura and Lilas to do that, expanding what I can do and continuing to challenge myself musically.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2014This interview by Daisuke Koyanagi (Interview inc.) first appeared on Billboard Japan<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.billboard.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a solo singer-songwriter and as YOASOBI\u2019s vocalist ikura, Lilas maintains a presence on the global stage while showing no sign of slowing her creative stride. Now, roughly three years after her last solo release, she has completed her new album Laugh. Created alongside YOASOBI\u2019s whirlwind international schedule, the album distills the experiences of living […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2247046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[349508,42097,26630,21932],"class_list":["post-2247045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-billboard-japan","tag-global","tag-japan","tag-music-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/On-New-Solo-Album-Laugh-Balancing-Two-Identities.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2247045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2247045"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2247045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2247047,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2247045\/revisions\/2247047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2247046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2247045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2247045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2247045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}