Stray Sheep

Last updated
Stray Sheep
Kenshi Yonezu - Stray Sheep.png
Studio album by
Kenshi Yonezu
ReleasedAugust 5, 2020 (2020-08-05)
Genre J-pop
Length59:26
Label Sony Japan
Producer Kenshi Yonezu
Kenshi Yonezu chronology
Bootleg
(2017)		Stray Sheep
(2020)		 Lost Corner
(2024)
Singles from Stray Sheep
  1. "Lemon"
    Released: March 14, 2018
  2. "Flamingo/Teenage Riot"
    Released: October 31, 2018
  3. "Spirits of the Sea"
    Released: June 3, 2019
  4. "Uma to Shika"
    Released: September 11, 2019
  5. "Paprika"
    Released: February 3, 2020
  6. "Kanden"
    Released: July 6, 2020

Stray Sheep (stylized in all caps) is the fifth album by Kenshi Yonezu, released on August 5, 2020. [1] [2] [3] The song "Kanden" has been used as the theme song of the comedy TV series MIU404. [4] The album sold over 879,000 copies in its first week, debuting atop the Oricon Albums Chart. [5] It was the top selling album of 2020 in Japan according to both Billboard Japan [6] and Oricon . The latter calculated that the album had sold 1,970,930 copies in Japan by the end of 2020, summarizing CDs, vinyls, downloads, and streaming equivalents. [7]

Contents

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Stray Sheep was the world's third-best-selling album of 2020, with 2.54 million sales worldwide. [8]

Release

The album was released digitally worldwide on August 5, 2020. It was available on physical formats in South Korea and Taiwan on October 16, 2020. [9]

Singles

"Lemon" is the first single of the album and was released on February 27, 2018. It served as the theme song for the TBS television drama Unnatural . [10] "Spirits of the Sea (Umi no Yuurei)" was chosen as the theme song of the animated film Children of the Sea . [10] "Uma to Shika" is the theme song of TBS television drama No Side Manager. [11] "Paprika" is the representative song for 2020 Summer Olympics. [12]

Commercial performance

The song "Kanden" was released on YouTube on July 10, 2020, and reached 10 million views in four days, breaking Yonezu's own record. [13] The studio album has sold one million copies within 10 days. [14] Besides, the album hit number one under the J-Pop category in over 30 countries in iTunes Chart and hit number one in 54 countries under the J-Pop Apple Music Albums Chart. And the topped 20 All Genres category in 22 Countries/Regions, 6 of which hit Number one. [15] [16]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Kenshi Yonezu

Stray Sheep track listing [17] [18]
No.TitleLength
1."Campanella" (カムパネルラ "Bell")3:55
2."Flamingo"3:16
3."Kanden" (感電 "Electric Shock")4:24
4."Placebo" (featuring Yojiro Noda)4:00
5."Paprika" (パプリカ)3:22
6."Uma to Shika" (馬と鹿 "Horse and Deer")4:25
7."Yasashii Hito" (優しい人 "Kind Person")3:28
8."Lemon"4:15
9."Machigai Sagashi" (まちがいさがし "Spot the Difference"; rearrangement)4:27
10."Himawari" (ひまわり "Sunflower")4:02
11."Stray Sheep" (迷える羊)3:46
12."Décolleté"3:29
13."Teenage Riot"3:45
14."Spirits of the Sea" (海の幽霊)3:54
15."Canary" (カナリヤ)4:58
Total length:59:26

Charts

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ) [25] Million1,000,000^
Japan (RIAJ) [26]
digital sales 		Gold185,000 [27] [28]
Summaries
Worldwide—2,540,000 [29]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, videographer and illustrator. He began releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name Hachi (ハチ) in 2009. In 2012, he debuted under his real name, releasing music with his own voice. He has sold at least 4.2 million physical copies and over 7 million digital copies in Japan.

<i>Diorama</i> (Kenshi Yonezu album) 2012 studio album by Kenshi Yonezu

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poppin' Apathy</span> 2013 double A-side single by Kenshi Yonezu

"Poppin' Apathy" is a song by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu. It was released as a double A-side single alongside the song "Mad Head Love" on October 23, 2013 by Universal Signma, on the same day that Yonezu's two self-released Vocaloid albums, Hanataba to Suisō and Official Orange, were re-issued by independent label Boundee by SSNW. Though recorded during sessions for Yonezu's album Yankee (2014), the song was not present on the final track list of the album.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemon (Kenshi Yonezu song)</span> 2018 single by Kenshi Yonezu

"Lemon" is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu, released as a single through Sony Music Entertainment Japan on March 14, 2018. It is the theme song for the TV series Unnatural. It has sold more than 500,000 physical copies and 3,000,000 digital copies in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace Sign (Kenshi Yonezu song)</span> 2017 single by Kenshi Yonezu

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<i>Bremen</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Kenshi Yonezu

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<i>Bootleg</i> (Kenshi Yonezu album) 2017 studio album by Kenshi Yonezu

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<i>BTS, the Best</i> 2021 compilation album by BTS

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pale Blue (song)</span> 2021 single by Kenshi Yonezu

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The Billboard Japan Hot Albums, also referred to as Combined Albums, is the primary album record chart published by Billboard Japan. It is released weekly on Wednesdays in Japan Standard Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oricon Combined Singles Chart</span> Weekly national singles chart by Oricon

The Oricon Combined Singles Chart is a record chart released weekly by Oricon—a major provider of information on the Japanese music industry. First published on December 24, 2018, it ranks the top fifty singles in Japan based on an album-equivalent unit system factoring physical CD sales, digital downloads, and streaming. It competes with the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oricon Combined Albums Chart</span> Weekly national album chart by Oricon

The Oricon Combined Albums Chart is a record chart released weekly by Oricon—a major provider of information on the Japanese music industry. First published on December 24, 2018, it ranks the top fifty albums through an equivalent unit system based on physical CD sales, digital downloads, and the streaming of songs. The Oricon Albums Chart only factors physical sales. The Combined Albums Chart is competed by Billboard Japan's Hot Albums, another multi-factor record chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kick Back (song)</span> 2022 single by Kenshi Yonezu

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinning Globe</span> 2023 single by Kenshi Yonezu

"Spinning Globe" is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu. It was released as Yonezu's 14th single on July 26, 2023, by Sony Music Records. The song served as the theme song for Hayao Miyazaki's animated fantasy film The Boy and the Heron (2023).

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<i>Lost Corner</i> 2024 studio album by Kenshi Yonezu

Lost Corner is the sixth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu, released on August 21, 2024, through Sony Music Records. It included number-one singles "Pale Blue", a theme for 2021 television series Rikokatsu and "Kick Back", an opening theme for 2022 anime series Chainsaw Man; the latter became the first Japanese-language song to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album also features the theme for Hayao Miyazaki-directed animated fantasy film, The Boy and the Heron (2023), "Spinning Globe".

References

  1. ↑ "米津玄師、ニュー・アルバム『STRAY SHEEP』トラックリスト公開。". Tower Records.
  2. ↑ "米津玄師の新アルバム『STRAY SHEEP』Lemon、パプリカなど新曲9曲を含む全15曲収録". www.fashion-press.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  3. ↑ "３年かけて磨き上げた傷だらけの宝石". Natalie.mu. 性懲りもなく迷ってるなという感じですね。だからアルバムのタイトルも「STRAY SHEEP」になった。
  4. ↑ "米津玄師の新曲"感電"が主題歌の綾野剛＆星野源W主演ドラマ『MIU404』第1話を観た！". Yahoo.co.jp .
  5. ↑ "オリコン週間 アルバムランキング 2020年08月03日～2020年08月09日". Oricon. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "YOASOBI Tops Billboard Japan's 2020 Year-End Charts With Song Not Released on CD". Billboard . December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  7. ↑ "[Oricon Annual Ranking 2020] Arashi wins the top spot for the ninth time in total". Oricon . December 28, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  8. ↑ "IFPI Global Top 10 Album Sales Chart 2020". IFPI. Archived from the original on August 14, 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  9. ↑ 米津玄師『STRAY SHEEP』、韓国と台湾でも現地盤の発売が決定. Billboard Japan (in Japanese). 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  10. 1 2 Parker, Esme (2020-06-09). "Kenshi Yonezu To Release Fifth Album STRAY SHEEP". OTAQUEST. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  11. ↑ G Andrew White (2019-09-12). "Kenshi Yonezu belts out a ballad in "Uma to Shika"". JROCK NEWS. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  12. ↑ "Japanese hit song "Paprika" goes global with English version by new singers and dancers". SoraNews24 -Japan News-. 2019-12-04. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  13. ↑ "米津玄師さん「感電」MV、公開4日と7分で自身最速1000万再生達成". Tokoshima Shinbun. 2020-07-14. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  14. ↑ "米津玄師『STRAY SHEEP』ミリオン突破". Billboard Japan.
  15. ↑ "Kenshi Yonezu's album, Stray Sheep hits #1 in over 54 countries".
  16. ↑ "KENSHI YONEZU STORM THE CHARTS AND GETS A COLLAB".
  17. ↑ "米津玄師アルバムに菅田将暉提供曲セルフカバー、アートブック盤には初のフル尺ライブ映像収録（写真18枚）". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  18. ↑ Ryusenkai (2020-06-21). "Kenshi Yonezu unveils all of the info. about his upcoming Album "STRAY SHEEP"". Arama! Japan. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  19. ↑ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2020/08/17 付け". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2020-08-17" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  21. ↑ "オリコン年間 アルバムランキング 2020年度" (in Japanese). Oricon . Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Hot Albums Japan 2021" (in Japanese). Billboard Japan . Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  23. ↑ "オリコン年間 アルバムランキング 2021年度" (in Japanese). Oricon . Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums Year-End 2022". Billboard Japan . Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – Yonezu Kenshi – Stray Sheep" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan . Retrieved May 9, 2021.Select 2020年8月 on the drop-down menu
  26. ↑ "Japanese digital album certifications – Yonezu Kenshi – Stray Sheep" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan . Retrieved May 9, 2021.Select 2020年8月 on the drop-down menu
  27. ↑ 米津玄師『STRAY SHEEP』、ダウンロードアルバム3連覇で累計15万DL突破 Spotify CM起用のVaundyが上昇. Billboard Japan (in Japanese). 2020-08-26. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  28. ↑ 【ビルボード2020年年間Download Albums】米津玄師『STRAY SHEEP』が制す. Billboard Japan (in Japanese). 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  29. ↑ Brandle, Lars (March 11, 2021). "BTS Bag 'Unprecedented' 1-2 on IFPI's Global Album Sales Chart For 2020". Billboard . Retrieved March 12, 2021.
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