Takao, a composer whose roots lie in video game music and who works in classical, ambient, and environmental music, has finally returned with a long-awaited new album. 'THE END OF THE BRIM' aims for universally accessible listening, and by moving away from the abstract elements of his previous album, 'STEALTH,' he focuses on songs with concrete strength, supple rhythms, melodic development, and sophisticated harmonies.Takao envisioned a world in which each track stands alone with it's own unique strength, and enlisted DJ eminemsaiko as his supervisor to realize this unprecedented endeavor. Through repeated trial and error, the album was meticulously sculpted with vocalists including Yumea Horiike (Music Room), Christelle Belle (Fall), and Atsuo Fujimoto (Main Theme) of Colored Music, along with Motoi Kawabe of Mitsume and Hiroshi Haraguchi, an engineer known for his work with Haruomi Hosono and Moonriders. While this album is technically a 'solo' album, expressing the musician's personal life, it's style is not direct; instead, Takao's unique intention is embedded in it, paying homage to the commercial, professional musicians who undertake commissioned works. Therefore, he attempted to describe his musical ideals through the concept of a professional musician = objective performer, and created a multi-layered work that could be described as 'program music that expresses himself as the client and that client himself.'The cover art for this work was by Toru Otani, and the design was by Kei Sakawaki. His vision for the future has been sublimated into a unique, timeless work that shows the potential of pop music. Yuji Shibasaki's commentary, which deciphers this mysterious, non-absolutely musical album, is also a must-read!Song List1. Long2. Mar3. Music Room (Voc. Horiike Yumea)4. ARP5. SPE6. Images7. Fall (Vocals: Christelle Bellet)8. CF9. Main Theme (Voc. Atsuo Fujimoto)10. The End of the Brim
