On November 29, legendary singer-songwriter Yumi Matsutoya will be releasing a new compilation album “Yuming Kanpai!! – Yumi Matsutoya 50th Anniversary Collaboration Best Album”, which will include a highly anticipated version of “Chuo Freeway” featuring duo YOASOBI.
“Yuming Kanpai!! – Yumi Matsutoya 50th Anniversary Collaboration Best Album” is an album with the concept of a “new past” and a “nostalgic future.” The participating artists were selected by Yuming herself, with both of them exchanging ideas including the direction of song selection and arrangement.
“Chuo Freeway” was originally released in 1976 and was included in Yuming’s, “14th Moon” album. For the new version, she was inspired by YOASOBI’s style of creating songs based off of novels and decided to use the novel “Everything is a Message” written by Mariko Yamauchi as the basis. The novel that was written in honor of her 50th anniversary depicts Yuming’s life from childhood up until present day. Both song and novel are based on an era before YOASOBI members Ayase and Ikura were born, but the two contributed by adding new lyrics, melody, and bridge. It was also confirmed that the vocals Yuming recorded as Yumi Arai in the original vocal track of Chuo Freeway was included with Ikura’s as a duet.
