On Wednesday, July 24th, m-flo held a release party called “m-flo♡SIW CONNECT in Shibuya” to unveil their first new song in about four years, “m-flo loves Maya / HyperNova.” They performed live for the first time in about five years and announced that they would be releasing “HyperNova” digitally on Wednesday, July 31st.
Here is a report on this one-night-only special live performance.
Live Report
The best summer starts with m-flo’s comeback!
Fans gathered early in the evening to enjoy the first live performance in a long time and the debut of the new song at “m-flo♡SIW CONNECT in Shibuya,” held on the rooftop of Miyashita Park, a popular place for relaxation in Shibuya. They were all ready to enjoy the long-awaited live performance, wearing m-flo merchandise such as live T-shirts and towels.
After a conference with VERBAL and ☆Taku Takahashi as guests, entitled “Looking back on the 25th anniversary of Shibuya and m-flo”, a DJ performance by new generation DJ/producer Yackle began. The DJ performance included not only m-flo songs, but also songs by outside artists such as producers and guest performers, and mixed in a wide variety of sounds related to m-flo, getting the crowd into the groove.
Once a DJ booth was set up in the Tesla Cybertruck, the only one of its kind in Japan, which was on display on stage, m-flo’s one-night-only live performance finally began.
VERBAL and ☆Taku appeared on stage to the cheers of the audience and started with the popular summer song “Summer Time Love.” This was their first live performance in about five years, and the fans were excited from the very first song with their hands up.
VERBAL said, “We started with this song 25 years ago,” and the intro to “been so long” started, eliciting another round of cheers from the audience. After that, m-flo’s hit songs such as “the Love Bug,” “gET oN!,” and “Lotta Love” were played one after another, and the audience responded to VERBAL and ☆Taku’s enthusiasm with the call-and-response and jumping that are standard at m-flo concerts.
After performing “No Question,” the milestone song that marked LISA’s return to m-flo, her representative song “Come Again,” which has recently become a revival hit, and “Miss You,” a surefire hit at live performances, the highly anticipated new song by loves was finally unveiled for the first time.
“It’s been a while since we’ve finished a song that really fits us. The loves artist is a new singer who hasn’t yet made her debut,” VERBAL said, and then 16-year-old singer Maya appeared on stage.
As this was her first live performance, Maya appeared in front of her fans with a slightly nervous look on her face. However, as the new song began with the sound of the guitar and her beautiful, swaying voice rang out, the atmosphere in the venue changed completely.
The new song “HyperNova” is a dance tune that features ☆Taku’s jersey sound, Maya’s delicate yet smooth singing voice, and VERBAL’s positive rap. The audience enjoyed the first new song in four years, and the first live performance, which was a rare treat.
☆Taku talked about how he met Maya, saying, “I was so moved by Maya’s singing voice that I came across it on social media, I immediately sent it to VERBAL,” and VERBAL revealed how their loves came to fruition, saying, “We’re both shy, so I was the one who DMed her…” and before you know it, the fun live show came to a close with the last song.
This release party was m-flo’s first live performance in a long time, and moreover it was held as a free live performance in the city where everyone could witness it. The venue was packed with a variety of people, including people in suits on their way home from work, families with children, students in uniforms, and tourists from overseas, all of whom were seen enjoying m-flo’s live performance in their own way.
The final song was a reggae arrangement of “Let Go,” and the audience sang along in unison, echoing through the Shibuya night sky. The unity of the venue reached a climax, bringing the special live show to a close.
VERBAL and ☆Taku told their fans, “We’re planning a lot of things for our 25th anniversary year, like making new songs and holding live shows,” and “Please come and see us again!” m-flo always goes above and beyond what you can imagine. While we wait for the release of their new song on July 31, let’s look forward to their upcoming projects.
[Maya PROFILE]
Currently, he is a 16-year-old high school student living in the United States. He is currently active on TikTok, posting cover videos of himself singing and playing acoustic guitar. In March 2023, he posted a video of him singing and playing “Just the Two of Us” on TikTok, which attracted attention from around the world and recorded 3.8 million views. He currently has more than 120,000 followers. His powerful and expansive singing voice caught the eye of music producer Yoko Kanno, and he was chosen to appear in Honda’s new global corporate commercial.
*What is “loves”?
From 2004 to 2008, m-flo introduced the new concept of “featuring,” which was a free collaboration between artists that was still unknown in the Japanese music scene at the time, and their project “loves” became a huge hit, with collaborations with a stellar cast of artists. To date, they have collaborated with a total of 43 artists.
“m-flo♡SIW CONNECT in Shibuya” 2024.7.24 mini live SETLIST
M1. Summer Time Love
M2.been so long
M3.the Love Bug
M4.gET oN!
M5.dwm
M6. She’s So (Outta Control)
M7.Lotta Love
M8.No Question(TOKYO RAINBOW PRIDE REMIX Remixed by Mitsunori Ikeda)
M9.come again
M10.miss you
M11.HyperNova / m-flo loves Maya
M12. let go (Reggae Disco Rockers Remix)
Text by Moemi Nagatani (block.fm)
Photo by Kiruke.
▼Release Information
m-flo loves Maya “HyperNova”
July 31, 2024 (Wednesday) Full audio will be available on all subscription and download services
https://avex.lnk.to/HyperNova
Thursday, July 25, 2024: Some songs will be released on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@mflo_official
▼”m-flo♡SIWCONNECT in Shibuya” mini live set distribution details
Distribution time: Scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, 2024
We bring you the mini live set of “m-flo♡SIWCONNECT in Shibuya” held on July 24, 2024 from the LINE VOOM m-flo official account! Also the first performance of the new song m-flo loves Maya “HyperNova”! Don’t miss it!
Distribution account: “m-flo” LINE official accounthttps://liff.line.me/1645278921-kWRPP32q/?accountId=m-flo
To make sure you don’t miss the latest information, we recommend that you add m-flo’s LINE account as a friend in advance!
* URL for smartphones only
*If you would like to continue viewing, please “follow” the account.
About LINE VOOM
“LINE VOOM” is a video platform where users can enjoy short videos and more within “LINE.” It brings together video content from a wide variety of genres, and the more you watch in the “Recommended” section of the “LINE VOOM” screen, the more popular videos and genres that interest you will be recommended to you. Additionally, in “Following,” you can see posts from creators and corporate accounts that you follow. “LINE VOOM” aims to brighten up users’ daily lives by providing users with the opportunity to encounter video content optimized for each individual and the joy of entertainment.
“LINE VOOM”:https://lin.ee/9WyDVM1/lntl/Pre * URL for smartphones only
“LINE VOOM” official website:https://lin.ee/NMN8bx2/lntl * URL for smartphones only
▼m-flo info.
https://www.m-flo.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mflo_official/
https://x.com/mflo_official
https://www.youtube.com/@mflo
https://www.tiktok.com/@mflo_official
https://lin.ee/TFGnfaQ
▼☆Taku Takahashi SNS
http://www.instagram.com/takudj
https://x.com/takudj
▼VERBAL SNS
http://www.instagram.com/verbal_ambush
https://x.com/verbal_ambush/
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