On April 19, Samurai guitarist MIYAVI announced the release of his first studio album in three years! The new record titled NO SLEEP TILL TOKYO will be out in stores on July 24. The artwork has been revealed to be designed by mangaka Sui Ishida, best known for his Toyko Ghoul series.

After teasing us on April 12 with a post on Twitter that read “coming soon I think”, MIYAVI later dropped a teaser from an upcoming music video on the same day the album was announced. The sneak peek shows MIYAVI singing an acoustic R&B influenced tune accompanied by his new weapon, a brand-new fender acoustasonic telecaster. Such an instrument seems to suit MIYAVI’s hands perfectly as it blends the characteristics of an acoustic and electric guitar.

All editions will come with 10 tracks, including bonus track Senkyaku Banrai (千客万来), a collaboration between MIYAVI and DAOKO for the upcoming Mika Ninagawa movie, Diner. Limited edition includes a DVD containing MIYAVI Japan Tour 2019 “THE OTHER SIDE” at Zepp DiverCity. Finally, there will be a special edition only available at Universal Music store that comes with a t-shirt featuring one of Ishida’s artwork.

In the English video commentary, shot in the same set as the music video, MIYAVI states:

…this time, the lyrics is mostly Japanese. We believe that’s the best way to express, and also explain what “MIYAVI” want to say. That Balance was the most important thing to us.

And in the Japanese commentary video, MIYAVI assures fans that the upcoming album will include “120% of MIYAVI”. He also describes the album’s sound as a mixture of the futuristic sound we found in his last album Fire Bird, and his well-known slapping technique used in fan-favorite songs What’s My Name? or Survive.

Later on, MIYAVI confesses how impatient he is to go on tour and share his upcoming project with all of us. The Japan tour 2019 THE OTHER SIDE will commence in May and be held at the group of Zepp music halls, making a double stop at the Tokyo venue.

MIYAVI dropped the third installment of his collaborative project Samurai Sessions just a few months ago, on December 2018, which included an intro track featuring no other than Samuel L. Jackson. NO SLEEP TILL TOKYO will be, however, MIYAVI’s follow-up to 2016’s Fire Bird when it comes to solo material.

Meanwhile, we’ve recently seen MIYAVI on acting roles beating Ichigo in the live-action adaptation of Bleach, as well as portraying a mysterious man in the thriller Stray. He also shared some time with us to have a talk about touring, his inspirations, family and humanitarian work.

Update 2019-04-26: The article has been updated to include MIYAVI’s English commentary video.

Update 2019-04-26: Tracklist, and cover artwork have been added. As previously mentioned the cover artwork has been designed by Sui Ishida, best known for his Toyko Ghoul series.

NO SLEEP TILL TOKYO

Regular edition CD Stars No Sleep Till Tokyo Tears On Fire Other Side Samurai 45 Butterfly Walk With Me Under The Same Sky We Can’t Stop It (Rewind) DAOKO × MIYAVI: Senkyaku Banrai (千客万来) Buy at CDJapan, HMV or Amazon

Limited edition CD Stars No Sleep Till Tokyo Tears On Fire Other Side Samurai 45 Butterfly Walk With Me Under The Same Sky We Can’t Stop It (Rewind) DAOKO × MIYAVI: Senkyaku Banrai (千客万来) DVD MIYAVI Japan Tour 2019 “THE OTHER SIDE” at Zepp DiverCity Buy at CDJapan, HMV or Amazon UNIVERSAL MUSIC STORE LIMITED EDITION CD Stars No Sleep Till Tokyo Tears On Fire Other Side Samurai 45 Butterfly Walk With Me Under The Same Sky We Can’t Stop It (Rewind) DAOKO × MIYAVI: Senkyaku Banrai (千客万来) DVD MIYAVI Japan Tour 2019 “THE OTHER SIDE” at Zepp DiverCity Bonus Album Cover T-shirt Buy at Universal Music Store



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