It’s been over 15 years since we last heard the lyrical stylings of original vocalist LISA as a core member of m-flo joining Taku Takahashi’s futuristic production values, and the hard-hitting lyricism of VERBAL on their album EXPO EXPO. Now, just in time for a major milestone for the group, the trio is together once again, and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come. Announced today after much, much teasing from the SNS accounts of everyone involved, LISA will be working alongside the group once more in the trio’s latest single “never,” which will also feature Takanori Iwata of Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE.



The single, which is set to be utilized as the ending theme for the upcoming feature film “Kyonen No Fuyu, Kimi To Wakare,” marks not just the return of LISA, but also the group’s 20 year anniversary in 2018. The film is set to release in Japanese theaters March 10, 2018, so we also have that to look forward to as well.

The track has been long teased by the trio in a number of cryptic ways, which is something even we were trying to decipher just a couple of weeks ago. Most recently we saw an update from the SNS accounts of m-flo which was perhaps the most blatant to date. Announcing a new Spotify playlist, I’ll let you take a look at the track names yourself:



If they were trying to be subtle, let’s just say the three of them went about it the wrong way. “Next Year WE Will Release New Song For You As Three Members.” The thing to note there was the use of the word ‘members’, over that of ‘featuring’ or ‘alongside’. Now that the mystery is deciphered, however, we couldn’t be more excited about the release of the single. With how long it’s been since we last saw the group work as a trio, it’ll be interesting to see the evolution of their signature m-flo sound.

You can, of course, expect to see exclusive interviews with Taku Takahashi, VERBAL, and LISA on OTAQUEST, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Images: m-flo, Avex Entertainment