Love Bebop


Love Bebop is the twelfth studio album by Japanese singer Misia. It was released on January 6, 2016, through Ariola Japan. The title, which is synonymous with love freestyle, was inspired by the evolving LGBT movement in Japan, leading Misia to draw a parallel between the growing societal recognition for all forms of love and the various messages of love depicted on the album. On the album's eponymous title track, Misia quotes former American president Barack Obama, who declared "love is love" in a speech given in the aftermath of the Supreme Court of [the United States]'s landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. The album yielded five singles, "Shiroi Kisetsu" / "Sakura Hitohira", "Orphans no Namida" and the digital exclusive double A-side single "Nagareboshi" / "Anata ni Smile :)".

Background and release

Misia began working on her next material immediately following the release of her eleventh studio album New Morning, and the conclusion of the Hoshizora no Live VII: 15th Celebration concert tour, in March 2014. She scheduled studio sessions with Shirō Sagisu, whom she had not collaborated with since Soul Quest. The writing and recording process wrapped in October 2015, with Misia holding her final sessions with Sakoshin, another producer she had missed. The pair last worked together on "Catch the Rainbow". For Love Bebop, she collaborated once again with DJ Gomi, Takayuki Hattori, Hiroshi Matsui and Tohru Shigemi, and brought along new collaborators, including the songwriters her0ism, Ki-Yo, Andreas Öberg, Rica and Shirose, from the band White Jam. The album was primarily recorded in Japan but also internationally, including in London, Dallas and Atlanta.
Love Bebop was released almost two years after her last studio album, New Morning. The first pressing of the record came housed in a digipak and included various album-related stickers and a bonus remix. The album was reissued in limited numbers of 1,000 copies on the eve of Misia's thirty-eighth birthday, July 6, 2016, in 12-inch vinyl format. The analog edition includes three additional remixes, of which two were previously unreleased.

Critical reception

CDJournal praised Misia's voice on the record as "expressive", and stated that her "knock-down" vocal performance "left no stone unturned". Writing for Bounce, Koji Dejima gave Love Bebop a warm review, describing himself as "pleasantly surprised" by the "rhythmic" uptempo tracks on the album, especially in the wake of Misia's performance of "Orphans no Namida" at the 66th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, which Dejima describes as "in line with the image of the powerful diva". He noted the presence of early collaborators of Misia and praised their "lively and emotive" contributions. Dejima remarked that the "exciting charm" of Misia makes Love Bebop an "album to lose yourself in".

Commercial performance

Love Bebop entered the daily Oricon Albums Chart at number 4, where it also peaked. It debuted at number 5 on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart, with sales of 14,000 copies, making it Misia's first studio album since "Just Ballade" to debut in the top five. The album debuted on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart at number 7 and at number 8 on the Top Albums Sales chart. Love Bebop charted for twelve non-consecutive weeks on the Oricon Albums Chart, selling a reported total of 27,000 copies during its run.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Love Bebop.
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