Lighthouse
The cover of the extended play. It features an eggnog white background, centered by a grey-filtered Gen Hoshino within a shape mimicking the body of a lighthouse; pure white comes out near the lighthouse's top right, breaking the eggnog white background, imitating the lighthouse's light. Below is the EP's title, spelt in all caps.
EP by
Gen Hoshino
ReleasedSeptember 8, 2023 (2023-09-08)
Genre
Length14:24
LanguageJapanese
Label
Gen Hoshino chronology
Same Thing
(2019)		 Lighthouse
(2023)

Lighthouse is an extended play (EP) by Japanese musician Gen Hoshino. It contains six songs that Hoshino wrote for the talk show of the same name, hosted by Hoshino and comedian Masayasu Wakabayashi. The EP was released on September 8, 2023, by Speedstar Records and Netflix Music, exclusively for streaming platforms.

Hoshino himself offered to write a song for each episode of the talk show, as he found the concept interesting and believed it hadn't been done before. On the EP, Hoshino employed a production manner he compared to "messing around". This, along with the songs' usage as ending themes in a talk show, prompted him to take use of styles and techniques he feared he couldn't on other works. The alternative EP features varied genre throughout its track listing, including rock, hip hop, and hikigatari .[lower-alpha 1] It was written, composed, and self-produced by Hoshino, with features from talk show co-host Wakabayashi and American instrumentalists Louis Cole and Sam Gendel.

Lighthouse, the EP, peaked at No. 6 on Billboard Japan's Hot Albums chart and at No. 18 on Oricon's Combined Albums chart. A digital-exclusive release, the EP saw higher positions on digital-focused charts, charting for seven weeks and reaching No. 2 on those of both Oricon and Billboard.

Background

Hoshino wrote the tracks on Lighthouse for his talk show of the same name (logo pictured).
Hoshino wrote the tracks on Lighthouse for his talk show of the same name (logo pictured).

Whilst working on the variety show Achikochi Audrey, presented by comedian Masayasu Wakabayashi, television producer and director Nobuyuki Sakuma became interested in creating a talk show hosted by the comedian and Gen Hoshino after the latter guest appeared on the program. He thought that Hoshino and Wakabayashi were able to resonate with the variety show's audience, something that to him indicated qualities for a good talk show. Conceived under the working title Gen Hoshino and Masayasu Wakabayashi's One Year and later finalized to Lighthouse, Sakuma believed the idea would be a new experiment in the talk show genre, focusing on displaying the current, everyday worries of the celebrity presenters, rather than their success.[2] Hoshino showed interest to the show's proposal and suddenly inquired to Sakuma about creating a song for every episode,[3] thinking that the concept of creating a song for every episode of one's own talk show was interesting and something never done before.[lower-alpha 2][5]

Though very keen to Hoshino's offer, Sakuma was unsure if he could personally encourage the idea without forcing Hoshino into doing something impossible under his "serious" schedule.[6] Hoshino, however, intended to use work on the songs as a way to apply pressure to himself. Noting that his work proccess in recent years of 2023 had progressed leisurely, song-by-song, he believed the pressure and subsequent complete immersion in music would result in better sound, as he thought it had in the past.[4]

In the talk show, "Mad Hope" serves as the main and opening theme, whereas the EP's other five tracks are used as ending themes with live performance from Hoshino and his band members. Video for the opening and endings was handled by Sakanaction music video director Yūko Yasunaga to contrast the show's "plain" talk segments with a "rich" and "stylish" style.[7][2]

Production and composition

Hoshino did not aim for the Lighthouse EP to be a commercial hit, unlike the focuses at the start of his career. Although considering many people listening to his music important, he instead prioritized having fun on the EP, not "pumping the breaks" on ideas he considered interesting.[5][4][8] He compared creating the EP to messing around, but contended that this made for a more difficult production process than the standard because he needed dedicate himself more to maintain a good sound. Hoshino described creating a yearly birthday song for comedian Yūki Himura on Himura's radio program as training in this creative method: "[The birthday songs] are just playing. The thing is, they still need to be really good songs but simultaneously also need to be entertaining. Therefore you need to play seriously. Thanks to having trained with those for 14 years now, I was able to make Lighthouse (the EP)."[5]

Lighthouse is 14 minutes long and contains six songs: a short version of the talk show's opening and main theme "Mad Hope", and the ending themes "Lighthouse", "Responder", "Outcast", "Orange", and "Dancing Reluctantly". All songs minus "Mad Hope" and "Orange" are recorded from live sessions. Apple Music lists Lighthouse as alternative music;[1] individual tracks have been described by Hoshino and others as rock ("Outcast"), reminiscent to Hoshino's early hikigatari [lower-alpha 1] style ("Lighthouse"), rap ("Orange"),[4] and "chaotic" ("Mad Hope").[7] Initially, Hoshino considered creating all songs on the EP in hikigatari, but quickly found this approach boring. After adopting the production manner of "messing around", he began creating songs in styles that he felt was natural, resulting in varied genre throughout the track listing. Inspiration-wise, Hoshino primarily based the songs in his and Wakabayashi's conversations from the talk show.[9][4]

The context of the songs as themes for use in a talk show resulted in a production process different from normal for Hoshino. He compared it to creating a soundtrack for the show, putting thought into how the songs could invoke feelings and shock/surprise in listeners after episodes. Due to the talk show covering heavier topics, Hoshino felt he was able to take use of more direct and sharp words in the lyrics, where it may have appeared narcissistic and subsequently uninteresting in other works. This also applied to Lighthouse's composition: thanks to the pretense of the talk show, Hoshino felt able to "suddenly" turn his instrumentation in a harsher direction, with elements such as warped vocals and drums. In an interview with Wired Japan, Hoshino opined that this allowed the EP to be simply enjoyed for a kind of fun different from other music.[4]

Lighthouse includes features from Hoshino's talk show co-host Masayasu Wakabayashi on the rap song "Orange" and American multi-instrumentalist Louis Cole and saxophonist Sam Gendel on "Mad Hope". A long-time fan of Japanese rap according to Nobuyuki Sakuma (director of the talk show),[2] Wakabayashi had been introduced to performing the genre during a guest appearance on Hoshino's segment of the radio program All Night Nippon, where Hoshino invited him to sing on a rap cover of his song "Pop Virus".[9][4] Inspired after filming Lighthouse's first episode, Wakabayashi wrote rap lyrics on his early adulthood; these would become "Orange". After presenting the lyrics to Hoshino, they together rewrote it to fit as an ending theme in latter half of the talk show, adding themes of worries that they possess even after "success."[9][4][10] "Mad Hope" was recorded by Hoshino with Cole and Gendel at the 2023 Summer Sonic Festival, alongside other projects with different foreign artists.[4][7]

Release and commercial performance

Lighthouse was released by Speedstar Records[11] and Netflix Music[1] for streaming and download on September 8, 2023, following the talk show's release on August 22.[12][9]

Comercially, Lighthouse has reached a at least 7,070 downloads–5,497 from its first five days alone, according to Oricon.[13] It charted for four weeks on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Albums chart, peaking at No. 2 in its entry week of September 13.[14] Though invalid for entry on Oricon's primary Albums Chart, it peaked at No. 18 on their Combined Albums ranking, charting for two weeks beginning September 18.[13] A digital-only release, the EP saw higher positions on the download and streaming charts. On those of both Billboard and Oricon, it opened at a peak position of No. 2 and charted for a total of seven weeks.[13][15]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Hoshino's website.[16]

Track listing

No.TitleJapanese title (romanization)Length
1."Lighthouse" (Live Session)灯台 (Tōdai)3:07
2."Responder" (Live Session)解答者 (Kaitōsha)3:37
3."Outcast" (Live Session)仲間はずれ (Nakama Hazure)1:56
4."Orange" (feat. MC. Waka)Orange2:46
5."Dancing Reluctantly" (Live Session)しかたなく踊る (Shikatanaku Odoru)2:23
6."Mad Hope" (Short) (feat. Louis Cole and Sam Gendel)Mad Hope0:35
Total length:14:24

Charts

Chart performance for Lighthouse
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[14] 6
Japanese Combined Albums (Oricon)[17] 18

Notes

  1. 1 2 A Japanese term and musical style meaning to play an instrument – often an acoustic guitar – whilst singing at the same time.
  2. ↑ In an interview with Wired Japan about the EP, Hoshino clarified that his goals and creative interests are not chosen for never having been done by anyone before; however, he found it "nice" that the projects he is interested in are occasionally in "places without anyone else."[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Lighthouse - EP". Apple Music. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "佐久間宣行が語る若林正恭と星野源 「2人が抱えている苦悩は、日本社会全体の問題です」 『LIGHTHOUSE』インタビュー前編" [Nobuyuki Sakuma talks about Masayasu Wakabayashi and Gen Hoshino: "The problems the two face are problems with the Japanese society at large." Lighthouse Interview, Former]. Tokion (in Japanese). Interviewed by Ryūji Ogura. September 13, 2023. Archived from the original on September 14, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  3. ↑ "佐久間宣行、星野源＆オードリー若林は「根っこの部分は誰よりもファイター」" [Nobuyuki Sakuma: "At their core, Gen Hoshino and Masayasu Wakabayashi are stronger fighters than anybody else"] (in Japanese). Interviewed by Roman Satō. TV Tokyo. September 6, 2023. Archived from the original on September 16, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Takimoto, Daisuke, ed. (September 8, 2023). "星野源が語る"対話からの創造"と、Netflix「LIGHTHOUSE」で挑んだ新たな曲づくりのかたち" [Gen Hoshino talks about "constructing from dialogue" and his new creation style attempted on Netlix's Lighthouse]. Wired Japan (in Japanese). Interviewed by Tomoko Hasegawa. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "「自分にとっての灯台は、過去の自分」 星野源が大切にする"くだらない"の楽しみ方 『LIGHTHOUSE』インタビュー(後編)" ["My personal lighthouse is my own past." Gen Hoshino's way to find joy in uselessness. Lighthouse Interview Latter] (in Japanese). Oricon. September 9, 2023. Archived from the original on October 28, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  6. ↑ "星野源×若林正恭『LIGHTHOUSE』は「お守りのような番組」 佐久間Pが明かす奇跡的な軌跡" [Gen Hoshino and Masayasu Wakabayashi's Lighthouse is "like a talisman." Sakuma P reveals the miraculous trajectory] (in Japanese). Oricon. September 23, 2023. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 "星野源、オードリー・若林とのトーク番組『「LIGHTHOUSE」~悩める2人、6ヶ月の対話~』のメインテーマ曲"Mad Hope" & 各話ED曲を書き下ろし" [Gen Hoshino writes main theme "Mad Hope" & various ending themes to Lighthouse: 2 Worried People, 6 Months of Discussions, a talk show with Audrey Wakabayashi]. Rockin'On (in Japanese). August 9, 2023. Archived from the original on October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  8. ↑ Hoshino, Gen; Wakabayashi, Masayasu (August 22, 2023). "Lighthouse". Lighthouse. Season 1. Episode 6 (in Japanese). Event occurs at 3:54. Netflix. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "星野源"未開の闇"に舵を切り生まれた新たなサウンド「作っていて楽しかった」 『LIGHTHOUSE』インタビュー(前編)" [Gen Hoshino on the new sound arising from turning his wheel towards the dark future: "It was fun to make." Lighthouse Interview Former] (in Japanese). Oricon. September 8, 2023. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  10. ↑ Tomoyuki, Mori; Eriko, Ishī (September 15, 2023). "星野源、Official髭男dism、BE:FIRST、WANIMA、いきものがかり、PSYCHIC FEVER……注目新譜6作をレビュー" [Gen Hoshino, Official Hige Dandism, Be:First, Wanima, Ikimonogakari, Psychic Fever... Review of 6 new notable releases]. Real Sound (in Japanese). Blueprint. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  11. ↑ "星野 源 - LIGHTHOUSE" [Gen Hoshino - Lighthouse] (in Japanese). JVCKenwood Victor Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  12. ↑ "星野源、オードリー若林とのトーク番組「LIGHTHOUSE」書き下ろし6曲を配信リリース" [Gen Hoshino's six songs for talk show Lighthouse with Audrey Wakabayashi to receive digital release]. Natalie.mu (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service "You Taiju"] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  14. 1 2 "Billboard Japan Hot Albums". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). September 13, 2023. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Billboard Japan Top Download Albums". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). September 13, 2023. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  16. ↑ "LIGHTHOUSE". Amuse Inc. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  17. ↑ "星野源の合算アルバム売上TOP5作品" [Gen Hoshino's Top 5 Combined Albums by Sales] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
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