Kenshi Yonezu’s new song “Azalea” is absolutely amazing. It has a natural rhythm that makes your body sway, and no matter how many times I listen to it, I never get tired of it. Lately, I’ve been playing this song on repeat. The arrangement was done by Yaffle, who also worked on “Mainichi ( Every Day )” the Georgia coffee commercial song included in Yonezu’s latest album LOST CORNER.
The music video for “Azalea” features many dark-toned shots, but within them, vivid colors stand out brilliantly. It creates a mysterious feeling, as if you’re moving between the ordinary and the extraordinary, reality and dreams. It’s so captivating that you’ll want to watch it over and over again. The MV was directed by film director Yuka Yamaguchi, who has worked on numerous commercials and music videos. I really like her use of colors and lighting, and her unique style shines through in this work as well.YUKA YAMAGUCHI｜FILM WORK
The Captivating Fluorescent Light Sounds in Azalea
At the beginning of the song, you can hear a sound reminiscent of fluorescent lights. It’s hard to describe—maybe a “clicking” or “crackling” noise—but it has a unique quality that feels oddly comforting. Following that, there’s an unsettling “buzzing” sound, like the final moments of a fluorescent light’s life. In the music video, flickering fluorescent lights appear in both the opening and closing scenes. These visuals are incredibly striking and stand out as a symbolic element that encapsulates the song’s world.
The sound of fluorescent lights is something I usually never pay attention to, but in Azalea, it feels like a uniquely pleasant resonance. Out of curiosity, I turned on the only fluorescent light in my house—the kitchen light—and sure enough, the soothing sound from the song echoed faintly in real life. That sound triggered a fragment of a distant memory from my childhood to resurface in my mind.
Memories and Records of Fluorescent Light Sounds
One memory was of the light fixture in my childhood home. It was the type with a pull cord that had been extended so it could be reached while lying down, eventually drooping all the way to the floor. Another memory was from my grandparents’ rural home. Late at night, when the house was silent and everyone was asleep, I remember sliding open the glass door to the kitchen. Flipping the wall switch produced a faint, flickering bluish-white light that illuminated the cluttered table. In that eerie glow, I suddenly noticed a camel cricket, its strange presence giving me a subtle sense of unease.
These are neither particularly good memories nor particularly bad ones—they’re neutral recollections that I don’t usually think about. However, the experience of a specific sound in music digging up past memories is rare for me, which makes this song personally stand out as a deeply memorable piece.
Reinterpreting “everyday sounds” through music and discovering new beauty or meaning in them might be considered one of Kenshi Yonezu’s signature approaches. For example, in Shinigami, a track from his latest album LOST CORNER, everyday sounds such as footsteps and the sound of blowing out a candle were skillfully incorporated.
The sound of fluorescent lights incorporated into Azalea is an everyday noise that usually goes unnoticed, yet it stands out as something special within the song. This reinterpretation not only evokes hidden emotions and memories from daily life but also highlights the rich potential that music holds.
By 2027, the production, import, and export of fluorescent lights are set to be banned in many countries, including those in Europe and Japan, due to environmental protection and energy efficiency concerns. This change is happening gradually, so it may go unnoticed in our daily lives. However, there might come moments when we feel nostalgic for the sounds and sights we’ve lost—just as Azalea made us listen to the sound of fluorescent lights in a new way.
Although the sound of fluorescent lights is destined to fade away, it has been carefully preserved by those who find special meaning in it. Searching on YouTube, I came across some unique videos dedicated to the theme of fluorescent light sounds.
The first video featured a nostalgic sound reminiscent of the ceiling lights at my childhood home. The second was created by a sound effects company and sounded like a short musical piece made entirely of fluorescent light sounds. The third was a song by a Japanese band called “Keikoutou Band” (Fluorescent Light Band). This band uses fluorescent lights as instruments and even performed at Fuji Rock in 2013.
The Sense of Distance Portrayed in Azalea
Azalea seems to revolve around the theme of “distance,” including in its lyrics. Expressions like “touch,” “caress,” and “hold me” evoke a sense of physical closeness, while the phrase “I loved” in the past tense hints at an unbridgeable distance, something that can never be touched again. This contrast between closeness and distance feels like an interplay between the untouchable past and the emotions in the present that are drawn toward it.
The inorganic sound of fluorescent lights heard in the song symbolizes a sense of psychological distance. The “clicking” and “buzzing” sounds of fluorescent lights carry a certain coldness, yet they are also deeply familiar as everyday noises. This duality—an inorganic, yet everyday texture—masterfully captures the loneliness and separation of the nighttime city, as well as the interplay of “closeness” and “distance” within our daily lives. By incorporating the sound of fluorescent lights, the song seems to expand upon its overarching theme of “distance,” giving it even greater depth.
This sense of being “close yet distant” is reminiscent of the contradictory feelings we have toward our memories. While memories are always accessible in their proximity to our minds, their details and sensations are irreproducible, creating a psychological distance. The sense of distance in Azalea beautifully mirrors this paradoxical nature of memory. The theme of distance in the song seems deeply tied to these characteristics of memory, drawing listeners to confront the “untouchable” elements within their own hearts.
Azalea: A Song Written for Beyond Goodbye
This song was written as the theme song for the Netflix drama Sayonara no Tsuzuki (Beyond Goodbye), starring Kasumi Arimura and Kentaro Sakaguchi. The drama tells the story of a woman who loses her boyfriend in an accident and a man who receives her boyfriend’s heart through a transplant. It portrays a unique connection born in the liminal space between life and death through the act of organ transplantation.
This connection is profoundly intimate: the heart, the essence of life itself, is passed on, creating physical closeness. But it also carries a sense of distance, as the lost lover can never be touched again. This paradoxical feeling of being “close yet distant” deeply resonates with the lyrics of Azalea.
As the drama’s ending theme, it was played in all eight episodes, and with each listen, its freshness and depth seemed to grow. I finished the series in a single day, so I listened to the song at least eight times, but I never got tired of it. Instead, each replay brought a renewed joy in experiencing the beauty of this piece.
The Allure of Kenshi Yonezu’s Tie-Up Songs
Many of Kenshi Yonezu’s songs are tied to various collaborations, and in his latest album LOST CORNER, half of the 20 tracks were written specifically for movies, anime, and other projects. His tie-up songs are characterized by their distinct individuality, standing out not as mere supplementary works but as integral elements essential to the projects they accompany.
In an interview with the Japanese music news site Natalie Music titled Kenshi Yonezu “Azalea” Interview: What Is Love? Reflecting on “Continuity Within Change”, he discussed creating music for tie-up projects. He shared that the process of exploring commonalities and differences with others through tie-ups, and finding points of harmony, feels similar to building relationships with people.
The idea that a new creation emerges from each unique relationship suggests that Kenshi Yonezu’s potential for artistic expression is boundless. His diverse approaches to music remain fresh with every listen, leaving us eagerly anticipating what kind of song he will deliver next.
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