Filipino-Japanese synthpop artist ena mori has released “King of The Night!”, the cheerful new single from her upcoming debut album “Don’t Blame The Wild One.”
The track is a song celebrating independence and triumphing over criticism and judgment. “I don’t want to see you in front of my face / Fragile behavior, the just defeated / I am the life / the king of the night!”mori sings confidently atop a booming synthpop production.
The triumphant track follows single “SOS,” which she released earlier in June. Both songs were co-written and produced by Timothy Run, the drummer of Filipino pop-rockers One Click Straight.
“Being mixed race and overweight, I used to be bullied at school and many times I felt like an outcast. ‘King Of The Night’ is inspired by my first experience of teenager as an outcast in hopes of encouraging many children to accept who they are,” Mori said in a press release.
“My producer, Tim, and I wanted to experiment with a different texture that somehow contrasts, like going from a soft self-tuning vocal to a big vocal-like chorus, and an electronic beat to a section of marching band.”
Listen to “The Night King!” below:
Along with the single, ena mori also announced further details about their debut album, which will be titled “Don’t Blame The Wild One”. The 12-track album will be released via Offshore Music Philippines on July 29 and will also receive a vinyl version.
“King Of The Night” is the fourth single from the record, alongside “SOS,” February’s “Vivid” and “Oh, Bleeding Hearts?” of last September.
In 2020, NME named ena mori’s 2020 self-titled EP as one of the top 25 Asian albums of that year, with writer MC Galang praising the record as “a feast of catchy hooks, lush orchestral arrangements and vast synths”.
Earlier this year, ena mori was named Emerging Artist to Watch on the NME 100. She was also nominated for Best New Asian Act at this year’s BandLab NME Awards, alongside artists such as Warren Hue, The Filters and Shye.
