That's Why I Gave Up on Music (だから僕は音楽を辞めた, Dakara Boku wa Ongaku wo Yameta), is the first studio album by Japanese rock duo Yorushika. It was released on April 10, 2019 by U&R records [ja].[1]
It is a concept album based on the story of "Elma and Amy", written and illustrated by n-buna. The album contains a total of 14 songs by Amy, the protagonist of the story, who wrote them for Elma while travelling to different places in Sweden.[2][3]
N-buna had developed the idea of writing about a man who had quit music as a way of projecting his old self. He set the story in Sweden because of having lived there as a child and the influences it had on him.[4]
He went on a trip to Sweden alone and wrote the music there.[5] He also came up with the idea for track 7, "In June, I Write About the Town After the Rain", in a hotel in Gamla Stan as he couldn't go out due to the rain.[6]
In addition to the music, the first press limited edition of the album titled "Letters to Elma" also contains lyrics and letters written by Amy along with pictures of the places he visited.[7]
Prior to the release of the album, music videos for titles "Deep Indigo"[8] on 27 December 2018, "Parade"[9] on 11 March 2019, and "That's Why I Gave Up on Music"[10] on 5 April 2019 were also released.
The duo released their second album titled Elma on 28 August 2019, which serves as a direct sequel to the story of That's Why I Gave Up on Music.[11]
Recording studios – Studio Dedé (Tokyo, Japan), ABS Recording (Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan), Bunkamura Studio (Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan), Studio Mech (Meguro, Tokyo, Japan), Ginza Studio (Ginza, Tokyo, Japan), and Matsusuta Studio (Tokyo, Japan)
Mixing studio – Matsusuta Studio (Tokyo, Japan)
Mastered by Yūji Chinone (茅根 裕司, Chinone Yūji) at Sony Music Studios (Tokyo, Japan)
^"【ALBUM】1st Full Album「だから僕は音楽を辞めた」". yorushika (in Japanese). ヨルシカ(yorushika). 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2024-05-09. 2019.04.10 RELEASE/1st Full Album「だから僕は音楽を辞めた」
^"【ヨルシカ】1st Full Album「だから僕は音楽を辞めた」4月10日(水)発売。". yorushika.com (in Japanese). ヨルシカ(yorushika). 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2024-05-09. 今作は、コンポーザーのn-bunaが描く物語を軸に楽曲を書き下ろしたコンセプトアルバムとなっており、音楽を辞めることになった青年が"エルマ"へ向けて作った楽曲、全14曲を収録した内容となっております。