HARUOMI HOSONO Signs To GHOSTLY / Announces ‘Sincerely Yours’ LP & US Live Dates
At 78, the legendary producer/musician/composer, will release his first studio album in 7 years
Legendary producer/musician/composer, Haruomi Hosono, has just announced his first studio LP in 7 years. At nearly 80 years old, the man who began his career in the late 60s, collecting fans ranging from Harry Styles to Van Dyke Parks along the way, has now signed to Ghostly International. Titled ‘Yours Sincerely,’ his 23rd album will be released this fall through the Brooklyn-based indie label.
From his early days with groundbreaking outfits like Apryl Fool, Happy End, and Yellow Magic Orchestra to his extensive solo career and soundtrack work, Haruomi Hosono has spent more than half a century exploring, redefining, and expanding the perceptions of what music is capable of on a global scale. At times, this has consisted of helping to pioneer new genres altogether. While the psych-rock of the short-lived Apryl Fool shook things up in Japan as a foundational group in the country’s “new music” movement, and Happy End integrated the Japanese language into Western-influenced socially conscious folk, Yellow Magic Orchestra blew the doors off of everything with their experimental electronic pop output. Their early use of the Roland TR-808 drum machine on recordings inspired Afrika Bambaata to do the same on “Planet Rock,” effectively shaping the growth and direction of hip-hop. The impact of Hosono and his YMO cohorts on electronic and techno music is immeasurable.
A key figure in the popularization of genres like J-Pop and City Pop, Hosono‘s influence extends well beyond his country of origin. His output is so prolific and so eclectic that I’m still discovering new projects I was unaware of and which sound completely unique among the rest of his catalog. There are ventures into Bollywood, Western, funk, exotica, jazz fusion, and everything in between. Forever ahead of his time, he was even an early pioneer of chiptune and video game music. Harry Hosono is a true visionary in every sense of the word, consistently anticipating the future of music and laying the blueprint for what was to come. His music has been covered by names like Mac DeMarco, Cornelius, and John Carrol Kirby, and sampled by artists ranging from De La Soul and Lil Ugly Mane to Vampire Weekend.
Hosono‘s music endures not only through his endless influence but also because he still has more to say and create. The new album promises more than just a rehash of his previous sonic achievements; he’s not through venturing into the uncharted. Of his current mindset, Haruomi states, “I am now 78 years old, but from here on, I feel a growing curiosity toward the unknown music that my new self will create, while also embracing the music of my former self—as if I now carry two musical worlds within me.”
The press release elaborates:
Yours Sincerely was shaped over two years. Hosono shares, “It started with a simple question: how do you express the Japanese ideas of omoiyari (思い遣り), jihi (慈悲), or boseiai (母性愛) in English? I searched, but no word felt quite right. Each came close, yet carried a slightly different nuance. Perhaps the nearest was ‘compassion.’ It is often translated as ‘omoiyari’ in Japanese, but its original meaning is ‘to suffer together.’ It tends to carry a sense of sympathy or pity—something that feels distinct from the Japanese sense of omoiyari. In Japanese, omoiyari also includes the feeling of ‘rejoicing together.’ In that sense, it may even seem like the opposite. The perspective, the emotional angle—subtly but fundamentally different. For that reason, I chose not to use ‘compassion.’ Instead, I turned to a more familiar word often used to close a letter: ‘Sincerely.’”
Across arrangements that span tender exploratory-folk and bubbling avant-pop, Hosono contemplates a maternal force that envelops the Earth, “humanity’s understanding of the unconditional love possessed by those who give us life,” he says. Songs tap into a collective current, the “deeply buried instincts—maternal compassion and mercy, things we rarely engage with in our daily lives.”
The slated release date for Yours Sincerely is September 11, 2026, but you can preorder the album now via Ghostly International. Physical formats include cassette, CD, and vinyl (black or “dark gold” wax). Additionally, there will be deluxe CD and vinyl boxset options, each limited to 500 copies.
Coinciding with the release are Harry Hosono‘s first US concert dates in 7 years. Although it’s being referred to as a “tour,” there is no indication that he will be performing beyond a select pair of shows, which are, unsurprisingly, being held in NYC and Los Angeles. A Radio City Music Hall performance will take place on September 16th, followed by a stop at the Greek Theatre on September 20th.
The artist presale for the shows begins on Tuesday, May 26th, at 10 am local time, with access being made available to those who pre-order the album from ghostly.com. General on sale begins on Friday, May 29th, at 10 am local time on livenation.com.