Lyric

Any Joy? Is an international musical collaborative project between Nagoya based musician and university professor Ikko Shibayama and Liverpool based singer songwriter Ali Horn blending Japanese City Pop with Western folk sensibilities.
First formed as a writing experiment, the pair soon found traction and within 18 months have written two albums with the first one just about to be released. To promote the release - Any Joy? will be playing 9 dates over 6 cities (Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Niigata, Nagano and Kyoto) in Japan before heading back to the UK for the second leg of the tour, playing 8 dates in the UK.
BIOGRAPHY - Formed in the summer of 2024, from a chance meeting at a folk event at the Jacaranda in Liverpool, the two met, exchanged songs and influences, and were compelled to spend the next year recording their debut album.
Recording the album between two studios in Liverpool and Nagoya wasnt without its difficulties. Not just logistical but linguistically.
Any Joy? blend Japanese and British sounds, swirling City Pop, Folk sensibilities with Horns poetry perfectly complimented by Shibayamas arrangements. They successfully blend the sometimes contradictory traditional Japanese and British styles, resulting in a unique, genre-less sound.
Any Joys first single What Could I Do? was released in November 2025 with huge success; international radio play, two sold out Liverpool headline shows, a festival slot at HyperJapan and off the back of it, a 9 date Japanese tour booked with a UK tour to follow.
THE TOUR - To support the release of their debut album Sweet Nothings Any Joy? Will be playing 9 shows over 3 weeks with a band consisting of 3 members from Liverpool and 4 members from Japan, rehearsing in their respective countries and for 2 full days before the first show.
Not only being a tour to promote the product, this tour will also be a collision of two cultures, and members, both from island nations at the furthest points of their continents.