Haru Nemuri Releases New Album 'Shunka Ryougen'

Japanese singer, songwriter and poetry rapper, Haru Nemuri has released her new full length album, 'Shunka Ryougen' today. The album, which contains a massive twenty-one songs, is available digitally and on vinyl.

Haru recently completed a string of SOLD OUT North American tour dates, finally being able to perform after re-scheduling four times due to the pandemic. She stunned crowds in Brooklyn, NY, Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, wrapping up at SXSW 2022, where she was heralded by the Austin Chronicle and Paste Magazine as one of the best performances they saw at the festival and performed with iconic punk band, Pussy Riot.

Fans were delighted to see new music released from Haru throughout 2021 with the singles and music videos for "Ikiru", "bang", "Inori Dake Ga Aru", Seventh Heaven", "Old Fashioned", and "Déconstruction. All of which can be found on 'Shunka Ryougen'.

Not many teenagers are inspired equally by American post hardcore icons such as Fugazi and Japanese avant-garde music legend Susumu Hirasawa, but therein lies the magic of Haru Nemuri and the work she has created over the past five years.

The album follows her debut 'Haru to Shura', released in 2018. On it, Haru crafted songs with elements of "modern urban innocence, constraints and homogeneity, which therefore created a feel of tension and compactness."

Over time, she says her beats and riffs have developed "a feel of more wideness in natural space" that would have been difficult to produce before. "I am now able to create sounds that are further closer to the ideal," she adds. "When I have ideas for songs, I am just an intermediary to help bring them to life. I strive to fulfill that role."

Haru has always made music for herself first, but now the world is listening - even if they can't understand a word of the Japanese language in which she sings, raps and frequently screams. Haru has built a dedicated following thanks to extensive touring in Japan and other parts of Asia, and sold out numerous shows in Europe on her first trip there in 2019, which included a performance at the legendary Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona.

The 6 singles previously released, including "Ikiru", offer a fascinating glimpse into where Haru's music lives. "Bang" and "Old Fashioned" splice Haru's rapped vocals atop heavy, distorted guitar riffs, while the vocal layering on "Inori Dake Ga Are" gradually becomes more and more disorienting, until Haru is shouting at the top of her lungs and the guitars reach a deafening volume.

The shoegaze and alt-rock-leaning "Seventh Heaven" was written for the film ("Colorless"), which she says "helped me see a new side of myself. After hearing it in the movie, I was just astonished that I was able to write that music."

Listen to the new album here:

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