Japanese bass sensation and LOVEBITES bassist Fami returns with her first solo release in five years, Hakoniwa, available digitally from 26 August, with an international CD edition to follow via London-based label JPU Records.

Preorders for the international CD edition open today. The CD will exclusively include a special booklet featuring English liner notes, lyric translations and transliterations, while fans will also have the chance to win one of 100 hand-signed photographs.

Fami first became a musical viral sensation through bass performance videos she began uploading to YouTube while still in high school. Her channel has since grown to around 700,000 subscribers, with her videos viewed more than 90 million times worldwide. In 2022, she joined internationally acclaimed Japanese metal band LOVEBITES following a worldwide audition. The band's 2026 album Outstanding Power debuted at No. 8 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart, followed by their first sold-out concert at Tokyo's legendary Nippon Budokan.

Hakoniwa is Fami's first solo release since joining LOVEBITES and her first since her 2021 original album Sotsugyo Album. Meaning ‘Miniature Garden’ in English, the EP draws on Fami's musical roots in stylish and technically demanding J-rock and pop, while incorporating elements inspired by Vocaloid music. The result is a vibrant yet nostalgic collection showcasing another side of Fami as a bassist, vocalist and songwriter.

Fami wrote and composed four of the EP's songs, including the title track ‘Hakoniwa Affordance’ (originally written while Fami was still in high school), ‘Shoshinsha 🔰 Highway ⭐ Star’, ‘Nostalgic Logic’ and the bass instrumental ‘Bass of Doom’.

The EP also features ‘Slap Seijin’, a new song written specifically for Fami by hugely popular Vocaloid producer NayutalieN. The collaboration has a special history: during her high school years, Fami's bass cover of NayutalieN's hit ‘Alien Alien‘ became one of her most successful videos, surpassing 11.9 million views on YouTube and helping establish her as one of the world's best-known bass-cover creators. Years later, Fami's enthusiasm for NayutalieN's music led to the creation of ‘Slap Seijin‘.

Fami comments:

“I feel truly honoured to have been given the opportunity to express my own world with the support of so many people. ‘Hakoniwa Affordance’, which also serves as the title track, is a song I wrote in high school and holds a very special place in my heart, so I would be very happy if listeners take the time to really immerse themselves in it.”

All tracks were recorded with a live band, with Fami handling bass and vocals. Drums were performed by Hideki Aoyama (B'z, BABYMETAL, JAM Project), with guitar by Yoshihiko Haga (aiko, Yuzu, Shunsuke Kiyokiba). Arrangements and programming for Fami's original songs were handled by Mao, who also works as a composer and arranger with LOVEBITES and Lonesome_Blue.