The most upbeat song about hikikomori since the golden days of Dempagumi.inc, for sure, and just an all around great bit of electro-pop courtesy of The Hair Kid, a producer originally from the New York area currently residing in Hyogo Prefecture. “Hikikomori” is a Yasutaka-Nakata-indebted number, featuring big burbling bass and electronically manipulated vocals courtesy of ZZIKO (Capsule would be the go-to comparison here, except it also has a playroom vibe to it that keeps having me come back to Kyary, too). Simple Nakata homage isn’t the end of the story, though. This is a very well spaced number, full of stops, starts and sudden shifts, alongside markers of contemporary dance music (hear ya, gunshot sample). The Hair Kid’s biggest triumph here is turning a six-minute-plus song into something that never once feels like it drags…this is always lively, and presenting something new for you to hear.
This release also comes with remixes courtesy of artists Maxo, ctrl + r and Jonah Baseball, all definitely worth checking out too. Hear the original above, and get the whole set here.