Kenshi Yonezu Shines Bright In His Music Video “Campanella”

J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu is currently riding the waves from the recent release of his 5th studio album titled STRAY SHEEP. It’s been 3 years since Yonezu’s last blessed us with an album, and so this release acts as a chronicle of how much he’s grown as an artist, featuring new songs as well as previously released singles, such as the mega-hit “Lemon” from 2018. The song “Campanella” is one of the focus tracks of the album and according to Yonezu, it was the last one he wrote for the album. You can feel how far he’s come both as a musician and as a storyteller.

Some of you have already guessed from its title that Kenshi’s song “Campanella” is based on the tragic character of the same name from the Japanese fantasy novel Night on the Galactic Railroad. Interestingly, the lyrics aren’t from the perspective of the main character grieving his long-lost friend Campanella but instead coming from the side character Zanelli who caused Campanella to drown. Yonezu uses the original story to expand on its themes, exploring the guilt we feel from our mistakes and how our mistakes change us forever. The magical visuals for this music video bring those feelings to life, linking the glittering tears from Campanella riding away on the train, to the stains left on Zanelli’s hands. The video was shot on the shores of the small coastal town, Chōshi, grounding the vibrant cinematography with an intimate, rustic backdrop for these characters to reflect.

But a music video is only as good as the music, and that’s where “Campanella” really shines bright. Yonezu has always infused his pop music with multi-instrumentation, but on Campanella, the backing tracks are given so much more space to really bring Yonezu’s vocals to another level. The enigmatic guitar riffs and the jazzy snare fills build a wondrous landscape around Yonezu and transports the listener into the storybook of the song. As popular as Kenshi Yonezu is around the world, he’s proving more and more that he deserves to be a household name.