Legendary Japanese musician, producer, and composer Haruomi Hosono has unveiled “Sincerely,” the latest preview of his forthcoming studio album Yours Sincerely, arriving September 11 via Ghostly International. Following previously released single “Note of Mothership,” the new track offers another glimpse into Hosono’s deeply reflective new chapter while drawing on one of the formative sounds of his youth.
“Sincerely” reimagines the 1954 doo-wop classic originally recorded by The Moonglows, whose member Harvey Fuqua co-wrote the song. The McGuire Sisters later brought their version to a wider mainstream audience, turning the track into a major hit the following year.
For Hosono, the song became an essential piece of the album’s larger concept. While the original lyrics center on romantic yearning, he chose to reinterpret the song around the deeper meaning of “sincerely” — something expressed earnestly and “from the heart” — while writing entirely new Japanese lyrics.
“Since the theme of this album itself is the spirit of sincerely—a closing salutation—I could hardly leave this song uncovered.”
That idea runs throughout Yours Sincerely, an album shaped by Hosono’s fascination with the emotional nuances surrounding concepts such as omoiyari (思い遣り), jihi (慈悲), and boseiai (母性愛). Rather than attempting to translate those ideas directly into English, Hosono spent two years searching for a word that could capture their emotional essence before settling on “sincerely.”
The resulting album considers a maternal force that surrounds and nurtures the Earth, exploring what Hosono describes as humanity’s understanding of the unconditional love possessed by those who give us life. Its arrangements move between tender, exploratory folk and bubbling avant-pop, creating an intimate sonic world rooted in compassion, mercy, and deeply buried human instincts.
At 79, Hosono continues a career that has influenced pop, indie, electronic music, and experimental music across more than five decades. Frieze has described him as “probably the most significant artist in the history of Japanese popular music,” a reputation built through a body of work that has repeatedly anticipated musical movements long before they reached the mainstream.
Hosono’s influence has also come full circle in recent years, with his work finding new life among a younger generation of Western artists. Mac DeMarco, Cameron Winter, Ginger Root, Vampire Weekend, and Harry Styles have all cited Hosono as an influence. Styles went so far as to name his chart-topping 2022 album Harry’s House after Hosono’s seminal 1973 record HOSONO HOUSE, while DeMarco has called Hosono his “hero.”
Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig also sampled Hosono’s work on the Grammy-winning Father of the Bride.
That international influence can be traced back to Hosono’s groundbreaking work with Happy End and Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). As a member of Happy End, he helped establish Japanese-language rock during the 1970s before pushing into electronic territory with YMO.
The group’s 1979 album Solid State Survivor topped the Japanese Album Chart, sold more than two million copies, and became an influential foundation for synth-pop, techno, hip-hop, and the broader development of electronic music.
Now, Yours Sincerely continues that legacy from a remarkably different perspective. Rather than looking forward toward technological innovation, Hosono turns inward, exploring memory, compassion, nature, and the emotional language connecting people across generations and cultures.
The new album will also be supported by The Yours Sincerely Tour, which brings Hosono back to North America this September for his first U.S. performances in seven years. The run includes headline appearances at Radio City Music Hall in New York and the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, with Toro y Moi supporting both shows.
With “Sincerely,” Hosono transforms a 1950s pop standard into something personal and distinctly his own, connecting the musical traditions that shaped him with the emotional ideas at the heart of his next record.
Yours Sincerely arrives September 11 via Ghostly International.
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