J-pop singer-songwriter Ringo Sheena is collaborating once again with pop hitmaker Hikaru Utada on a song called “Roman to Soroban LDN ver.,” which will be included in her upcoming greatest-hits album.
The two artists debuted from Toshiba EMI the same year back in 1998, and first collaborated on a song called “Nijikan dake no Vacances” (“Two-hour Only Vacation”) included in Fantôme, Utada’s album from 2016.
Sheena had kept details of the new collaboration under wraps until now, though she had already shared the track list for her first-ever greatest hits collection.
She wrote and arranged “Roman to Soroban LDN ver.” (“Romanticism and Abacus”), while Yoichi Murata arranged the wind, string, and percussion parts of the track. Her longtime collaborator Masayuki Hiizumi is on piano and Keisuke Torigoe on five-string bass, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed its part at Abbey Road Studios, hence the “LDN” in the title.
The music video accompanying the new number was directed by Yuichi Kodama, who also directed the visuals for “Nijikan dake no Vacances.” The new video was originally scheduled to drop together with the album on Wednesday (Nov. 13), but post-production was greatly accelerated to coincide with the release of the track itself.
Ringo Sheena and Hikaru Utada’s “Roman to Soroban LDN ver.” was released digitally Nov. 2. Sheena’s greatest-hits collection, Newton no Ringo (“Newton’s Apple”), is due Wednesday (Nov. 13).