Tokyo duo CRYSTAL mix J-pop with electro synthesizers on new album

Alongside influences from video game music and new wave.

Tokyo-based duo CRYSTAL, aka Sunao Maruyama & Ryota Miyake, are releasing a new album called Reflection Overdrive, via Flau this May.

Comprised of Ryota Miyake (aka artist Sparrows) and Sunao Maruyama, the album is described by the label as: “a roller-coaster ride through time and space.”

Sonically, Reflection Overdrive incorporates city pop, electro synthesizers, video game aesthetics, techno, and new wave influences.

Coinciding with the announcement the duo have shared new tracks ‘Kimi Wa Monster’ and ‘Phantom Gizmo’, with the latter described as “the ballad of a ghost robot from a dystopian landfill.”

Reflection Overdrive follows CRYSTAL’s Ecco Funk EP in 2019, also on Flau.

Pre-order Reflection Overdrive here in advance of its 5th May release, check out the artwork and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

2. Phantom Gizmo

3. Taxi Hard ft. Vincent Ruiz

4. Northern Taurids

5. Ecco Funk (Album Version)

6. Solidary Sonar

7. TV Fuzz ft. Julián Mayorga

8. Kimi Wa Monster ft. Matias Aguayo (Album Version)

9. The Golden Disc

10. Refraction Overdrive

11. Slow Universe