Let’s start this with a short history lesson: One of the most successful Japanese rock acts of the ’90s was the group called The Yellow Monkey, that played a mixture of hard-, glam-, alternative- and stadium rock… and they were as good as bad they might sound based on this description. Exceptional songwriting and the strong, unique voice of singer Kazuya Yoshii (often credited as Yoshii Lovinson) made them easily one of the best rock bands of that decade, but their story ended with the ’90s. They went on a hiatus in 2001 and officially disbanded three years later. Yoshii started a quite successful solo career, and as he was the main songwriter anyways, it is no surprised that his music closely followed the path of his old group, both music and quality-wise. Last year he released a new solo album, his 7th altogether along with a collection of covers, but after those, more and more rumors started to circulate around a possible The Yellow Monkey reunion. It was eventually confirmed along with a long arena tour that started back in January, 2016.

A new song called Alright already debuted on the radio soon after the tour’s start, but it haven’t got a proper release… till now. As this week the band will finally drop its first new release since they reformed, a single called suna no toe (砂の塔), which, besides the title track, will also feature Alright as a B side. Along with either instrumental versions or a dozen of live tracks recorded during this year’s shows, depending on with version of the single you decide to buy. And of course they also uploaded a music video to promote the release, so check it out below along with the preview of their new live DVD coming out the same day

theyellowmonkey_sunanotoeSuna No Toe
2016.10.19
Regular Edition
01.suna no toe (砂の塔)
02.Alright
03.suna no toe (砂の塔) -Instrumental-
04.Alright -Instrumental-

Limited Edition
01.suna no toe (砂の塔)
02.Alright
– Bonus Live Tracks from The Yellow Monkey Super Japan Tour 2016:
03.Primal.- Tokyo Kokuritsu Yoyogi Kyougi Jou Dai Ichi Taiikukan-
04.Spark -Nagano Bigguhatto-
05.bara shoku no hibi -Hiroshima Hiroshima Green Arena-
06.Burn -Miyagi Seki Sui Haimu Super Arena-
07.rakuen – Aichi Nihongaishi Hall-
08.Welcome To My Do Ghouse – Osaka Osaka Shiro Hall-
09.hanafubuki -Saitama Saitama Super Arena-
10.Brilliant World -Fukuoka Marinmesse Fukuoka-
11.kyuukon -Hyougo Koube World Kinen Hall-
12.TV no Singer -Kanagawa Yokohama Arena-
13.Pearl -Fukushima Azuma Sougou Taiikukan-
14.kanariya -Hokkaidou Makomanai Seki Sui Haimu Aisuarina-