[Column] AI, “Aldebaran” that was completed in “NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen”. Kamishiraishi Mone was also “the best!”

AI will appear in “72nd NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve 2021, and will play the theme song “Aldebaran” for the NHK TV series “Come Come Everybody”. Show off. With overwhelming singing ability, the line of “laughing, laughing and dear person” resonated powerfully, wrapping the whole of Japan with excitement.

◆ AI image / video

“Aldebaran” composed by Naotaro Moriyama is a melody that combines a simple touch with a magnificent sense of scale. And it’s a ballad number that combines lyrics with ale for people living in difficult times. While overlapping with the story of “Come Come Everybody” (a family history depicting three generations of grandmother, mother, and daughter) starring Mone Kamishiraishi, Eri Fukatsu, and Rina Kawaei, they will be close to the lives of each listener. This song attracted a lot of attention even before its release, and became a representative song of the 2021 music scene.

The lyrics are the core of this song. A person who recalls the loneliness and anxiety that he felt during the last two years when he was struck by the corona wreckage from phrases such as “Don’t lose to the lonely times” and “Know each other’s love for that loneliness”. There should be many. Yes, I think the reason why “Aldebaran” is so popular is that it has the message that is required in this era. Also, the hybrid musicality is the charm of this song. A tune that praises the friendliness of a folk song, and an arrangement that incorporates the taste of gospel-soul music, which is the root of AI, are combined into a modern pop song.

About “Aldebaran” AI is “not only bright and dark, not too retro, not too new, in any era. I think it’s a song that applies to me. I really like the fact that it becomes positive at the end. ” It seems that the song has a big meaning for herself.

“Aldebaran” was unveiled for the first time at the final performance of the 20th anniversary tour held at Tokyo International Forum Hall A on November 1st. .. At the end of last year, “Music Station Ultra SUPER LIVE 2021” (broadcast on December 24), “CDTV Live! live! New Year’s Eve! It was sung in music programs such as “2021 → 2022” (broadcast from December 31st to January 1st) and attracted a great deal of attention.

And, as mentioned above, the stage of “NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen”, which will be the end of 2021, was just overwhelming. In the introduction of the song, Mone Kamishiraishi who played Yasuko who is the first heroine of “Come Come Everybody” appears. The moderator, Yo Oizumi, asked me for an impression of “Aldebaran,” and said, “I first heard it when I was cranking up, but the role I played and the song were really linked. !! “It was like that,” he commented.

AI will perform with the opening video of “Come Come Everybody”. Appearing in a black chic suit, she spun out the opening phrase, “I wonder if you and I can get along with each other before the end of this world,” along with the sound of a classical stringed instrument. I changed it. The set is extremely simple. Standing alone on the stage without a backing chorus ── It is a stoic production that conveys the intention to scrape off the decoration and deliver only the song.

As the song progresses, the feeling of exhilaration gradually increases, “Look up and see the glittering Aldebaran, the reason for the overflowing tears” “Kimi to Kimi” AI that sings to hand over an urgent phrase such as “to make the important person happy.” In the second half, she moved to an arrangement that incorporated a gospel taste, and her soulful singing voice echoed even more strongly. It can be said that the scene of shouting “come on everybody sing it” while looking toward Kamishiraishi was one of the highlights of the 2021 “NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen”.

After singing, Kamishiraishi smiled and wept, “It was awesome. I’m really happy to meet this song and work. Thank you. ” Also, on NHK’s official YouTube channel, ” The theme song “Aldebaran” (AI) Kouhaku Special Version “(a version of the opening video of the drama with a new video added) has also been released. Even on SNS, “I was crying when I saw Yasuko who was crying in Aldebaran” “AI’s singing voice trembled” “I think that AI’s Aldebaran was out of the question and the applause was actually the biggest” , Many voices of tears have been received.

The song title “Aldebaran” is an alpha star in Taurus, which is derived from the Arabic word “following”. “Aldebaran,” which was named with the hope that “this song will be a brilliance and a guide for many people in this era,” will continue this year as the story of “Come Come Everybody” progresses. It is likely to shake the hearts of many music fans.

AI will release a new album “DREAM” containing the song “Aldebaran” on February 23 (Wednesday), and in May. We are planning to go around the country on a tour .

Sentence ◎ Tomoyuki Mori

■ New album “DREAM”