Yu Sakai on ‘Tiny Desk’ Debut & Returning to His Roots With New Album ‘PASADENA’

Yu Sakai has recently released his eighth album, PASADENA. The album’s title comes from Pasadena, a city on the outskirts of Los Angeles where he lived when he moved on his own to the U.S. to become a musician. Four of the songs on the album were recorded in L.A., which he has such fond memories of, and the other four songs on the album were created in Tokyo and produced by Shingo Suzuki (Ovall), a musician whom Yu engaged in friendly rivalry after returning to Japan. There are also three bonus tracks, which he recorded in New York last year and which have only been available on streaming until now. 

In October of last year, Yu celebrated the 15th anniversary of his debut. Billboard JAPAN talked to him about his hopes for his new album, which represents a return to his roots. He also spoke about his recent performance on Tiny Desk Concerts in Washington D.C.

What led you to start working on the new album, and when did you begin?

It was after we’d finished all of our work on my best hits album (Yu Sakai’s Playlist [White and Black]). I finished the album tour in March of last year, and then beginning in the summer, I starting recording in both L.A. and Japan.

Could you start by talking a bit about recording in L.A.? The producers and songwriters on the new album have worked with world-famous artists like John Legend, Usher, TLC, and Anderson .Paak. Did you co-write the songs?

We co-wrote everything from scratch.

So it started with you going into the studio and playing the piano?

Right. Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but the tracks that they’d prepared for me just weren’t what I was looking for, so I ended up rejecting all of them. They’d created the songs with me in mind. They were all really cool songs, but they didn’t have clear features that shouted “Yu Sakai.” Trying to add those features to the songs they’d already made would have just resulted in a confusing jumble, so I thought it would be faster to start from scratch. We co-wrote the four songs from the ground up.

Were there any creators involved in the L.A. recordings that particularly stood out?

Sam Barsh, who co-wrote “Amakunai Kikenna Kaori,” is a great pianist. I just wanted to hang out with him for a whole day, playing piano, just the two of us. His good qualities really come across in the song. It has this funky, jazzy, urban harmony with a solid beat.

What kind of song were you going for with “PASADENA,” which you digitally released as a single?

L.A. It’s not the kind of song you could make in New York (laughs).

So it has that crisp, fresh groove because you wrote it in L.A.

Exactly. From the start, I’d decided three things: I wanted the listener to be able to picture the scene the moment they heard the music, I wanted this song to be the first song on the album, and I wanted to end the album with a ballad. I decided on the album title, PASADENA, on the same day when we co-wrote the song. I was like, “This album’s got to be called PASADENA!”

You released the song “PASADENA” last December, and this January, the city of Pasadena was hit by wildfires.

I never expected to see anything like that.

The whole situation is so heart-breaking. But the song “Pasadena” starts with the line “I’m back,” and then in the chorus, you’re singing “Pasadena Beautiful,” so it’s also like a song of encouragement for the city.

Yeah, you’re right. I’m still worried about Pasadena, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by the fires. It’s become an unforgettable song for me.

What is the theme of “What About You?”

Politics. It’s asking “What are you going to do?” My own stance is one of active resignation, and my way of thinking can be summed up with “Amakunai Kikenna Kaori” and “Gotta Get Up.”

So the message you were trying to convey was that people should get actively involved with politics?

Yes. Even if you choose to have no interest in politics, you can’t choose to live a life unaffected by politics. Both “What About You” and “Gotta Get Up” have the same message. I think there are a lot of people who are faced by this impossibly huge foe and can’t imagine any way to solve the problems we face, so they feel powerless and they give up engaging with politics. They feel that there’s nothing that ordinary people like us can do. But even if politicians lie, I don’t think government data lies, so one thing we can do is keep a close watch on the data and speak up. Even simply doing that will shine a little light on them.

What were you thinking about when you wrote “Amakunai Kikenna Kaori?”

I wrote about all the nonsense in the world, putting it in song form for people to have fun with. There’s this strange smell all around us, you know? Something you can smell, but you just can’t see. But people are fighting about it. “Look, I told you you could see it!” “What?! Why can’t you see it?!” That’s what the song is about. Arguing is fine, but they’re creating division so we fight each other. We’ve all got to come together.

That ties into “Understanding” and its theme of mutual understanding.

Exactly. “Understanding” is also about politics and history. I guess that’s the mindset I was in with this album.

Changing topics, this March you recorded a Tiny Desk Concert in Washington D.C. Honestly, how was it?

It was and will always be one of the most fun trips I’ve ever taken. It was three nights and six days, though, so it was hard (laughs). I was so nervous and excited that I didn’t catch a wink of sleep the night before. I wanted to keep my vocal cords in good condition, so I didn’t talk to anyone. I just lay in bed thinking, “I’m looking so forward to this. I wonder what it’s going to be like. It’s an office, so does that mean the sound is going to be deadened? Whatever, I get to sing along to Nate Smith’s drumming. I can’t wait.”

Which songs did you perform?

“Get it together,” which is a song I recorded in L.A. a while ago. It’s a laid-back song, but we upped the tempo a bit to make it a good fit for a set opener. I also wanted to do a J-pop medley, so we performed a medley of “Story,” “Gaze, Daydream,” and “Rose & Rhodes,” featuring about a minute and a half of each song, and then we ended with “Sinatra, The Darkness Of Cherry Blossom.” The song is about New York, but Washington is famous for its cherry blossoms, so I wanted to perform it. It was like a 20 minute show. Those 20 minutes went by in the blink of an eye, though.

What should people watch out for when they see your Tiny Desk Concert?

Playing J-pop in an office right there in Washington D.C. I hope true music fans in America will feel the joy of listening to J-pop.

You started recording overseas around 10 years after your debut, and you began doing more collaborations with overseas musicians. What aspects of you, as an artist, do you think this brings out?

It’s hard to put into words, but it’s not like I think that anything that’s foreign is superior. Japan has its own distinct sound. I like American music, but I’m not a fan of just one specific nationality. If I was head over heels for American music, I’d move to New Orleans, like guitarist June Yamagishi. I’d live over there and make it my base of operations. But I prefer Cape Ashizuri (in Kochi Prefecture) to America. It’s more like when an opportunity arises and the stars are aligned, I’ll go and jam, weaving the tapestry of my own music.

—This interview by Takashi Inomata first appeared on Billboard Japan

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