Release Date
2025-08-22
After the scheduled release date, a link to the distribution store will be displayed here.
1
insomnia (feat. Anoice)
2
northern waltz (feat. Anoice)
3
refrain (feat. Anoice)
4
children in the reverie (feat. Anoice)
5
gravity (feat. Anoice)
6
light sleep (feat. Anoice)
7
piano four palpitations (feat. Anoice)
8
nocturne (feat. Anoice)
9
the liquidator (feat. Anoice)
10
mirage (feat. Anoice)
※ Preview may take some time.
※ Preview is not available for songs under copyright collective.
Where is the boundary between reality and dream.
After nine long years, we will finally release the brand new album solo album, 'INSOMNIA', by Takahiro Kido, member of the cinematic instrumental music band, Anoice, and its side projects, RiLF and Films. He is also the prolific songwriter of over 100 songs every year for movie and TV drama soundtracks as well as commercial adverts and events for over 100 domestic and international brands.
This album was inspired by the insomnia he suffered from temporally during the creation of Anoice's latest album 'Stories in White' in 2024, and it expresses the mentality of people who are living in the current information society magnificently, beautifully, and sometimes cruelly. Its neoclassical-based sounds consist of mainly a piano and string instruments and has drastically changed the fantastic atmosphere which his past solo albums possessed. Almost all of the plot of the album and the bass sounds were finished whilst he was staying in the Czech Republic in 2024, and the sounds he recorded there such as hurdy gurdy, his heartbeat and the clock hands and bells which kept time, played a big role.
The instrumentalists who are active in the front lines includes all members of Anoice and consists of orchestral songs featuring heavy and spectacular layered soundscapes formed by string instruments; violins, violas, and cellos, as heard in the lead single 'insomnia' and 'gravity', chamber music featuring beautiful melodies from a piano and string quartet in the follow up single 'northern waltz' and 'mirage', and simple piano songs such as 'refrain' and 'nocturne'.
Takahiro Kido made a collage from the photos he took by himself in front of 'Myth of Tomorrow', a huge painting by Taro Okamoto who is a Japanese artist he respects, at Shibuya Station in Tokyo, as the album cover. His bandmate in Anoice, Yuki Murata, directed the music video for the first lead single from the album, 'insomnia', which is a continuation from 'kill lies all', the lead single of Anoice's latest album 'Stories in White', and she described her feelings towards this song at the beginning of the video as below.
"Artists creating their new work by using artificial intelligence may seem to be abandoning their own uniqueness and creativity, but in a sense, it could be said that this is one of the best tools for expressing the weakness of the human species gravitating towards technology. Now, we are hovering between dreams and reality."
This is a new masterpiece of neoclassical music by the composer who takes over 'the sound' of Jóhann Jóhannsson and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Takahiro Kido is a Tokyo based music composer. He debuted as a member of the cinematic music group Anoice, by releasing their first album, 'Remmings' through Important Records, Boston in 2006. In 2015, Anoice released their 4th album 'into the shadows' recorded in not only Tokyo, but also London, Paris, Warsaw, and Moscow. One of the album tracks 'old lighthouse' became the #1 trending track on Spotify as Japanese artists, and 'invasion' was used as the credit roll tune of 'Girl Lost', a US movie which was the #1 trending movie on Amazon Prime Video. In 2019, Anoice released their 5th album, 'Ghost in the Clocks', made from lovely melodies and magnificent orchestral sounds, which Anoice wrote as a soundtrack to a world that followed their 3rd album, 'The Black Rain' which details life after the atomic bombs. This album, and each song within the album, became the #1 and top 10 most streamed/downloaded instrumental music on Apple Music and iTunes Store in over 20 countries. Other than Anoice, he began to be active with his solo project, and also launched side projects from Anoice such as; RiLF, Films, Mizu Amane, Cru, and Tokyo Ambient Collective, and released many works via not only domestic but also international music labels such as Ricco Label, Important Records, 1631 Recordings, PLOP, Noble Label, Flowers Blossom In The Space, and Shochiku Records. As for his solo project, he had been creating basically warm and catchy music, but in 2025, released his 6th solo album 'INSOMNIA' which expressed the mentality of people who are living in the current information-filled society magnificently, beautifully, and sometimes cruelly. Its neoclassical-based sounds consist of mainly a piano and string instruments and has drastically changed the fantastic atmosphere which his past solo albums possessed. He also holds European and Asian tours as not only his solo project but also his bands, Anoice and Films every year. In addition, Takahiro Kido has taken charge of composing music for many commercial adverts such as Armani, Louis Vuitton, Google, YAMAHA, TOYOTA, Mazda, Johnnie Walker, Ballantine's, Heintz, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and etc, and some projects produced by the Japanese government agencies such as Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Also, he created the soundtracks of some movies such as 'Tsukiji Wonderland' directed by Naotaro Endo, 'Olivier Zahm: Digital Provocateur' directed by Can Evgin, 'Girl Lost: A Hollywood Story' directed by Robin Bain, and 'Hikikomori: A Deafening Silence' directed by Dorothée Lorang and David Beautru, and some TV programs produced by NHK, WOWOW, TV TOKYO, and etc. Some film works awarded at Venice Film Festival, Prix Italia, National Arts Festival in Japan, Cool Japan Matching Award, Japan Movie Critics Award, and Japan World's Tourism Film Festival, and Takahiro Kido himself received the Best Original Score Prize at Sapporo International Short Film Festival. Also, he took charge of creating music for some events such as a film produced by Armani which was screened at Milan Fashion Week, a ballet 'Tanzbrucke 2011' performed at Janáček Theatre in Prague, an installation by SYN in Kyiv which was displayed at Moscow International Biennale, and an exhibition 'Black Rain Hibakusha - Out of the Shadow' by Thomas Damm in Berlin, and has been creating over 100 songs every year as the music composer and producer.
Ricco Label