The INSANE Harmony Of YOASOBI - IDOL

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[danimal]

It is so crazy to me that this was the first ever Japanese song to hit #1 on the worldwide billboard chart. It didn’t last long, but still it’s quite the accomplishment and I love that it happened.

[ProjectMons]

As a Jpop composer myself I would love to add some details on song structure of this song and Yoasobi's writing in general.
Jpop song is famous for its complex structure usually with a lot more changes in comparison to the western "verse and chorus" structure. A conventional model for a Jpop song is A - B - Chorus - A - B - Chorus - D - Chorus. You might have noticed that in oder to keep the whole song interesting, the biggest challenge is to always invent new interchanges between these sections. That's why it's usual to see key changes in the chorus when you listen to Jpop and vocaloid songs. In my experience the hardest part is the D to Chorus section because you're almost writing a new song, but the buildup and drop should be the strongest among the entire piece. Also from song writing point of view, the D section is where you put the deepest lyrics and tell the hidden thoughts, the music therefore goes down with it.
What Yoasobi usually do in the D section (although in this song it's sort of a refrain to the B section) is dropping the key, so that the key raise in the coming chorus sounds even higher that before.
Recently I've seen a lot of people talking about the disappearance of complex melody and key changes in western pop music. I think this might be a reason why Jpop artists might be a fresh air to the western listeners and I'm happy to see such exchanges happening.

[NagaTen]

VOCALOID composers like Yoasobi's Ayase, supercell's ryo and a few others seem to be on a completely different level, and when they turn to composing music for actual live vocals, it tends to show!

"Racing Into The Night / Yoru Ni Kakeru" is a great example, where Ayase originally wrote the song on VOCALOID, and then ended up using it on Yoasobi, with Ikuta singing it fantastically.

[jenova]

As someone who binged Oshi no Ko recently, Charles going through the key changes reminded me that it’s actually telling the story of the first episode through the harmonies (which is a whole nother level imo bc the lyrics are obvious but the harmony isnt) so it’s fun to see that connection that way now

[mooshiros]

Yoasobi loves changing key right before the last chorus, they do it in all their songs and it's amazing.

[walrusgumboot]

I listen to a lot of J-Pop because the harmony is often so rewarding compared to western Pop music. Yoasobi are masters of integrating complex harmony into catchy pop melodies. Would love to see more of this analysis please!

[raikaroku]

remember that yoasobi songs always derived from a story. you are not only listening to music, you are being told a story.

[TitaniumTIDV]

I would die for a video of you just playing through this uninterrupted

[roastinginpurgatory]

Yoasobi is made up of singer-songwriter Ikura and producer Ayase and they're known for making music inspired by books, manga and shows, so whenever they make openings, the lyrics will always be extremely relevant to the piece of media they are depicting.

The duo name means to play in the night, because both members have their own bands and projects, and at night, they team up and turn books into music!

Really enjoyed this deep dive into the song's melody, your enthusiasm is captivating and it's great to see someone who isn't shy to dive into genres that most people don't go into like J-pop and put their heart and soul into analysis! Once again, amazing work Charles!

[rome]

Charles is the only human being I know who gets as excited about an unexpected chord change as I do. Even my musician friends don't understand why it's my favorite thing in music, That's part of why I love this channel.

[dulltomb]

I don't usually comment, but this was a brilliant analysis of YOASOBI and why they're so amazing! I highly recommend analyzing Racing Into the Night (Yoru Ni Kakeru) which is one of their most popular songs, so much to dissect and unpack, love your work, Cornell!

[hpmc]

Never realized there was so much complexity inside the chords, Ayase is a beast. By the looks of it the song can even be performed slower with a totally different mood.

[sojungie]

Pretty amazing that you’re able to understand the song through the harmonies despite not knowing the meaning of the lyrics! The song is unique and definitely tells that story well.

[alecj]

Japanese pop music, especially when its connected to anime or Japanese video games blows me away. Its so interesting & creative. Even when i dont love it, i appreciate it.

[SystemGlitch]

First of all, super awesome for all those who want to learn about this type of harmony. Here's some notes:
4:19 - While complex, this exact harmony is super super common and, being an anime fan, I find myself improvising a lot with this progression.
9:01 - If you like these modulations, you should really check out some of Zun's famous touhou songs like 'Necrofantasia' or 'UN Owen Was Her?' if you have not yet.

[brody]

Can we PLEASE get a full piano cover of this song from you?? The snippets you played always left me wanting more 😭😭

[FrznFLmE]

The modulation going down and back up near that last chorus is what I call the "Ayase Special" (Ayase is the composer in YOASOBI) and of course, Ikura (the vocalist in YOASOBI) can just pull it off and sing it perfectly.

The same thing happens in "Yoru ni Kakeru" (or "Racing into the Night") where the key goes from Eb pretty much the whole song, into a couple bars in D, and finally ending with F. One person's interpretation I heard before was that it gives a bigger impact going from D to F compared to Eb to F for the ending of the song, hence why it first modulates down slightly before modulating even higher.

[BenSalernoMedia]

This really makes me want to hear a full slow piano version of Idol just so I can soak it all in.

[taikeih]

The direction of key changes match the lyrics 🤯 I’m loving this song even more now!

[DDoubleEDouble]

2:23 I love this chord progression. It’s used to modern gospel ALL THE TIME too.