The British producer has reworked J-pop musician ASCA’s ending theme of the anime adaptation for The World Ends With You video game, out now via Sony Music Japan.
Chime’s dubstep rework of ‘Carpe Diem’ takes the J-rock elements of the original by mixing it with the producer’s signature melodic instrumentation.
The remix pairs the vocals and lyricism of Japanese artist ASCA with Chime’s hard-hitting bass drops to create a fresh yet familiar sound.
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‘Carpe Diem’ is the ending theme song to the anime adaptation of the video game, The World Ends With You, which premiered in earlier this year in April.
The video game, developed by Square Enix and Jupiter Corporation, was originally released in 2007 for the Nintendo DS handheld.
The song is sung by ASCA (real name Asuka Okura), a J-pop artist known for singing theme songs of popular anime series. Notable releases include her 2017 debut single, ‘KOE’, for the second season of Fate/Apocrypha, and the 2019 single, ‘Resister’, for the second season of Sword Art Online Alicization.
She recently released her second album, Hyakki Yakou, in January.
Chime comments,
“This remix opportunity was such a pleasant surprise. It came out of nowhere! I was aware of ASCA through my wife’s love for the Sword Art Online anime and her songs ‘Resister’ and ‘Selfrontier’. I’ve always been deeply inspired by Japanese culture through my strong Nintendo music influence and I’m very glad to be further entering the Japanese spotlight with these kinds of remixes.
In early 2020 I played a few shows in Japan alongside Xilent – both Osaka and Tokyo – they were honestly some of my favourite shows I’ve ever performed. The Japanese audience was ready for anything and responded with incredible energy to every track I played.
This remix feels like a combination of the new and old Chime styles with a heavy dose of J-pop/rock flavour. I hope my Japanese fans especially love it!”
Chime hails from Leeds, producing drum and bass before shifting focus to a more melodic dubstep sound.
Inspired by the music found in video games, his popularity gained the attention from producers such as Xilent, Seven Lions, Virtual Riot, among others.