Released via IRORI Records / Pony Canyon as the ending theme for THE DARWIN INCIDENT, Turn It Up positions AKO inside moral grey space rather than easy resolution.
Jazz, rock, and pop intersect by design, a genre blend that mirrors a story shaped by fractured identities and ideological tension. The bilingual structure moves between English and Japanese with calculated contrast, setting irony against conviction.
Her signature whisper shifts again here. Breath is pared back. Restraint becomes texture.
Mixed by Nathan Boddy, the track balances anime-scale atmosphere with pop precision, drawing faint echoes of ’90s sci-fi without drifting into nostalgia.
In this FM PRO conversation, AKO unpacks writing from the antagonist’s perspective, shaping sound as commentary and letting tension, not volume, drive the impact.
I love 1990s anime, and in particular I love Ghost in the Shell. Imagining Yoko Kanno, who composed the soundtrack, I created the English-lyrics part of the intro.
Writing Turn It Up as an anime ending theme, did THE DARWIN INCIDENT change your approach?
I felt that this work tells the story of people with many different roots, so for this song I created the music by combining genres that come from various roots as well. The title, Turn It Up, means “turn up the volume,” and I put my thoughts about the ALA into the lyrics. I would be very happy if listeners could enjoy the music by playing it loud.
The jazz–rock–pop clash feels deliberate. Was that baked in early, or did it emerge in the studio?
The sound of this song was something that emerged during the production process. I was really into the artist WILLOW at the time, and I started making the track using her latest album as a reference. As I tried to shape her kind of music into a slightly more rock-oriented sound, elements of jazz, rock, and pop gradually blended together.
Switching between English and Japanese, how do you assign emotional weight to each language?
The title Turn It Up also carries the meaning of “raise your voice.” With irony, I expressed through this title a kind of self-suggestion used by the antagonistic organization ALA to drown out their own anxieties and doubts, as they brandish slogans that conveniently serve them as “justice.”
In other words, when people shout about justice, is it truly for the sake of others? Or is it simply to suppress their own fears? The lyrics question the kind of “justice” that is loudly proclaimed within society.
The English lines in the male vocal part convey a slightly self-indulgent idea—that humans can sometimes fall apart or become flawed—and they are intentionally positioned as a counterpart to the Japanese lyrics.
The song questions existing values. What was hardest to express without over-explaining?
It took quite a long time to come up with the title Turn It Up. The most difficult part was deciding what words to use to express irony toward ALA.
Your whisper voice is a signature—where did you push it differently on this track?
By cutting off all breath, it creates an effect where the breath itself takes on a role in the singing. It was the first time I had tried this, and I found it very interesting.
Working with Nathan Boddy, what was the key challenge in balancing jazz dynamics with pop clarity?
I think it comes down to vocal volume. In Japan, there is a culture, especially in anime songs, of making the vocals quite loud, so I had Nathan adjust the balance between the vocal level and the track level many times.
What single production decision helped the track feel cinematic enough for anime?
I love 1990s anime, and in particular I love Ghost in the Shell. Imagining Yoko Kanno, who composed the soundtrack, I created the English-lyrics part of the intro. Some Japanese friends told me that the intro feels nostalgic, and I wonder if that might actually be a sticking point. Since THE DARWIN INCIDENT is a dark sci-fi anime, I drew inspiration from my favorite dark sci-fi anime.
As a manga fan, what boundaries did you set for what the song shouldn’t be?
I felt that a cute and sweet vibe would not be the right fit.
With Turn It Up out and JUNO ahead, what still feels unresolved in your sound?
Recently, the Canadian band MEN I TRUST came to Japan, and I went to see their show. I was deeply impressed by both their sound and their performance. I was especially struck by the guitar tones, and it has motivated me to focus more on how to shape my sound for my own live performances. I want audiences to genuinely feel how good the sound is.
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