【NON's 3rd Full Album “Renarrate” Release Commemoration】Official Interview Now Available!

NON's 3rd full album “Renarrate” was released on Wednesday, September 3rd.
To commemorate the release, we present an official interview where Non candidly discusses the entire album, track by track

 

――The album ‘Renarrate’ struck me as a work that unfolds like a story, tracing the path Non has carved out. Moreover, while establishing the sound of the “NON Band,” I felt the range of expression within rock music expanding. Could you start by telling us why you chose the theme “Renarrate” for this album?

In my music, I used to prioritize projecting a strong image of myself. But with the album ‘PURSUE’ I released two years ago, I realized I could still pursue my art freely even by showing my vulnerabilities and softer sides. While I expressed my emotions up until ‘PURSUE’, with ‘Renarrate’, I wanted to retell those stories by crafting songs like weaving a narrative or making a film. It's like attaching an objective story to things I'm not satisfied with or messages like, “This is how I want to live.” I tried to retell it from that perspective, so listeners can imagine their own scenes and connect it to their experiences. I hope it gives them that feeling you get after watching a movie.

――Why did I feel, during the ‘PURSUE’ era, that it was okay to show not just the positive aspects but also vulnerability? And why do I now feel the urge to revisit that?

Whether acting or directing films and music videos, I believe that delving into a character's weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and negative aspects makes them increasingly compelling. Even though I felt that way, before creating ‘PURSUE’, I strongly believed “I want to show music through music alone.” But when I started thinking about how to amplify music's power, I began to understand that it would be good to express myself in a way where my musical self and my acting self intersect. Once I did that, I lost my resistance to digging deep into my weaknesses, my pathetic moments, my regrets, and expressing them.

――If Non-san were to leverage her acting prowess to portray fictional characters within her music, I'm sure it would undoubtedly result in fantastic pop songs. But I also believe that it's precisely because she sings so candidly about “herself” as a person that her music moves us so deeply. So why does Non-san persist in expressing “herself” through her music?

Maybe it's because I prefer songs that let me picture the creator's life. Even with fantastical lyrics, I find myself connecting to songs that make me think, “This person must think like this,” or “I wonder if they ponder things like this in daily life.” Even if I'm mistaken, that kind of imagination makes me care deeply about the song. So, I hope my own songs can make listeners feel that same kind of connection.

▲“Renarrate” NON KNOCK Edition Jacket Alternative Cut

 

――This album features 12 tracks completed primarily by NON and guitarist Kei Higuchi. I felt this approach gave the entire album a sense of unity and depth, like watching a single story rather than an omnibus film. What led you to adopt this production method this time?

Until now, I've made albums by having people I admired provide the music, thinking, “Since it's my acting career that's widely known, that's how it should be.” But I started feeling it was time to show, “I'm serious about music.” I didn't want my music to be seen as just a side project. It's not like I'm just going along with someone else's plan. I wanted to make an album that could show that. Kei has played guitar for me since I started making music. He's now my bandleader, and he even handled the soundtrack for my film (Ribbon). She's my “musical partner.” So deciding to make this album just the two of us was a big decision. There are songs where Kei wrote the music and I just wrote the lyrics, but I'd decided I'd compose half myself. Including the ones I scrapped, I wrote way more songs than ended up on this album... There was this moment where I thought, “Oh, I'm already dried up” (laughs).

――When I was dried up, what became my “water”?

Since it took two years, I had other work during production, and I feel like I was given water while acting as an actor. There were moments when I thought, “Acting really is fun,” and I realized I could never escape the joy of expression. Also, at Chiba (Yusuke)'s tribute live (“Ohara☆Break '24: Paint Over with Love”), I covered two songs. Jumping in while feeling dried up was genuinely fun—that was water too. So many artists were there, like Hiroto Komoto and Kazuya Yoshii, and the sound hitting my ears was just so cool. After the live ended and I stepped offstage, Hiroto-san told me, “You're a rock ‘n’ roller, aren't you?” That made me think, “Wow, I'm so glad I've been doing music.” It felt like I'd been rewarded.

――That's a phrase that will support me for a lifetime. From here on, I'd like to present a full track-by-track commentary on ‘Renarrate’, with Non-san discussing each of the 12 songs one by one. The first song is “The Light of Film” (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON). I recall being struck by something you mentioned during a previous interview with Kiyoshi Reitaro: “When I see people where power or something other than acting is their top priority, where acting isn't their ‘absolute number one,’ it really gets under my skin.” This song feels like it captures that essence of you, Non-san, who values the dignity of acting and human emotion above all else.

This song truly became an outlet for expressing that very frustration I feel. It was created from the desire to experience many moments like watching a beloved film, and it serves as a way to confirm that “even though things feel constricted, what I believe in remains.” Since it was crafted using film as a motif, I feel I was able to write phrases I probably wouldn't have used before. I even tried writing slightly cheesy lines like 〈You're my only light〉. I'd be too embarrassed to say something like that myself, but since I wanted to depict the story of a protagonist utterly captivated by a film, I could write it.

――From the very first drum beat, it's such a cool opening for the album, and the melody is amazing too.

I'm thrilled! I absolutely love this one myself. While creating it, I wanted the chord progression and melody to carry a more poignant, tingling emotion than what I usually craft. For the arrangement, I thought Shibata-san's (Takahiro Shibata / Wasureranaiyo) style would link well with the lonely boy's feelings in this song, so I asked him to handle it. Then he sent me an incredibly cool demo, which made me so happy.

――The second track is “Renarrate” (Lyrics: NON / Music: Kei Higuchi). It serves as the title track representing the album

I absolutely love this one too. Kei-san had always said he wanted to “explore a sound that feels like a NON-chan-style band track,” which is exactly why I wanted to work with him on this album. The first result of that was “Haru wo Ukete tatsu” (released January 2025). So I asked him to create another song in the same vein as “Haru wo Ukete tatsu,” and that's how this song came to be. During production, Kei went through a slump too. When he tried making this song thinking “I want a song like Haru wo Ukete tatsu,” he couldn't get anything he was satisfied with. But then I went to his place and said, “Play me all the demo scraps you have,” and among them was “Renarrate.” While Kei was stuck, she was experimenting with different approaches. We'd talked about how “maybe it would be good to try composing music based on the lyrics I wrote first.” So, I threw out a list of words, and this chorus came out of it. It was absolutely perfect. “Haru wo Ukete tatsu” is a song that flows under the sun or in springtime warmth, but when I first heard this demo, I pictured a scene in pitch darkness after sunset, lit only by car headlights. So I wrote the A and B melody lyrics with that image in mind.

――Hearing that, I realized this song's theme of “walking an unknown path” reflects both Non's life and the album's creation process. The third track is “The Taste of Dreams” (Lyrics: NON / Music: Kei Higuchi). It's a song that opens the “childlike heart” whose door has closed as we grow up, and then embraces you.

Kei had been saying for a while, “I want to try something like rap too.” So, with a nervous look, he sent me “The Taste of Dreams,” saying, “I feel like this direction could be new territory too.” I think the lyrics for “The Taste of Dreams” involved quite a bit of trial and error. I usually jot lyrics in my phone's notes, but I hit a wall, so I thought I'd try writing in a notebook. I woke up, grabbed a pen, and started stringing words together analog-style. I think I wrote things like “holding a treasure chest” and “candy” with sleepy eyes. I was writing in a daze. You know how sometimes words just come out without passing through your brain? That's how I wrote it.。

――So those words really came out while I was half in a dreamlike state.

Conversely, the rap part has this grounded, real-life feel to it, which I think makes for an interesting song. I hadn't written many rap lyrics before, so I wrote the A-melody, B-melody, and chorus first, then wrote about 20 times as many words for the rap part and handed it all over to Kei-san. Then he picked things out from that and pieced them together to make these lyrics.

――Is the “childlike spirit” expressed in “The Taste of Dreams” something that's always at the core of Non-san?

“Childlike spirit” is a really important theme for me. Doing this kind of work, I think it's vital to have this kind of boundless desire to express yourself, this boundless curiosity to keep learning. There's also this kind of obsession, this fear that if you lose that curiosity and that sense of exploration, your talent will end. So as long as I keep creating, I don't want to lose that childlike spirit.

▲“Renarrate” Exclusive Booklet: Other Cuts

――The fourth track is “Climy.” This song was born from a rare collaboration between the Higuchi sisters: composed by Kei Higuchi and lyrics by her older sister Ai Higuchi (writing under the pen name “Ai Higuchi”).

――The fourth track is “Climy.” This song was born from a rare collaboration between the Higuchi sisters: composed by Kei Higuchi and lyrics by her older sister Ai Higuchi (writing under the pen name “Ai Higuchi”).

It's special, isn't it? When Kei sent me this song, I felt like I couldn't come up with this kind of melody or lyrics on my own. Then Kei said, “I was thinking of asking Ai-po.” I thought if Ai wrote the lyrics, this song could expand exponentially, so I asked her. The next day, Ai sent the lyrics, and I was both surprised and delighted. Keiko told Ai something like, “I love Non-chan's attitude—like she's glaring at someone while shedding tears of frustration.” From that, Ai wrote the line, “Crying in a fighting pose.”

 

――Lines like 〈This jumbled heart is mine alone／I won't give it to anyone〉 and 〈Saying things like “I hate you” or “I won't forgive you”／It's like a boomerang／Stabbing deep into my chest, prickly thorns〉 really capture those moments when the human heart trembles. It feels so quintessentially Non-san, radiating that pure anger toward anything that tramples on those feelings. It's a song packed with the charm of Non-san, as seen by sisters who know her well.

That's how they wrote it, it seems. I absolutely love these lyrics too.

――The fifth track is “Meiwaku na Rinjin” (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON). I pictured you writing music at night, NON. When did you create this song?

“Meiwaku na Rinjin” is actually about me (laughs). I'm the type who gets sudden bursts of inspiration at night. When I can't sleep after getting into bed, I'll grab my guitar and compose while singing. But one day, a notice appeared near the elevator in my apartment building saying something like, “We've received complaints about pet noises, musical instrument playing, and loud singing. Please refrain.” I thought, “What if they're talking about me? Oh no!” That's when I wrote this song. I wrote it imagining a scene like something you'd see in a movie.

――So how have you been composing since that notice went up? (laughs)

I've been behaving myself (laughs). I make music by playing my electric guitar without plugging it into an amp.

――The sixth track is “Mizu o” (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON). I felt this song represents NON's approach: cherishing the tremors within her own heart while crafting music that creates moments of heart-stirring emotion for the listener.

This song was made with the decision to break my own habits and create something I'd never made before. Even the chorus—which used to be mostly simple, repetitive four-chord structures—I wanted to break down and create a completely different type of chorus. I made it with the feeling of, “I would have done it this way before, but I'm deliberately going to avoid that.” I also incorporated poetic word arrangements and metaphorical expressions into the lyrics.

――What would you say the metaphorical expression “water” represents?

During the album production, I was constantly outputting and felt myself drying up. That's when I started thinking about how important those everyday moments are – like eating a home-cooked meal, going on a hot spring trip, visiting museums or movie theaters. This song was made during that time. So, I think water represents “the ordinary, everyday life.”

▲During recording, discussing the songs

 

―――The seventh track is “Kirei na Kutsu Haite.” This is the only one written and composed by Kei Higuchi.

I believe this is the first time Kei has written both the lyrics and music. When I asked why, I realized it's truly a sacred song, so important that outsiders shouldn't intrude. I learned that Kei-san's grandmother had passed away. Since he was very close to her, the sense of loss was immense. He wanted to show his grandmother with confidence, “This is how I'm living now.” It's a song born from that. Entrusting such a special song to me is a huge responsibility.

――I imagine that by having Non-san's voice carry it, it became something Kei-san could proudly present to his grandmother. And I reckon she'd be happy too. Track 8 is “Haru yo Ukete Tatsu” (Lyrics: NON / Music: Kei Higuchi). As you mentioned earlier, this song's background is the reason the two of you decided to co-create this album. And track 9 is “Byoushin” (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON). I feel this song is also a crucial point in the album.

This one was made without thinking at all, really casually. It feels like “simple me.”

――That's where Non-san's charm really shines through, how something punkish comes out when you're in that mode.

Yeah. I was surprised myself to realize that when I let my guard down, it turns punk. It's like when I was stuck, thinking “I can't do this anymore,” “What should I do?” and just went with my instincts, and this song came out. So it's a song that expresses “I haven't changed at all,” “People don't change, huh?” Even after building up all this stuff, if you don't let your thoughts wander, this is what you end up with.

――That's where the explosive appeal of Non lies: her rebellious message against systems where power or someone gains vested interests, delivered through punk-inspired musicality. Track 10 is “Nigai Kazitsu” (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON).

This song feels a bit more sensual than my usual style, I think. It also came from wanting to create something I'd never made before, something where the actor and the music intertwine. When acting, I value thinking about the character's pain and interpreting it in a way that's grounded in that pain. I also value infusing that pain into the music, and I think that's what gives this song its dark feel. It's a song written as if someone else—a character different from myself—were speaking. I feel closer to the person seen through the eyes of 〈The Me Who Bit Down〉.

――But the chorus line, “Because my heartbeat showed me the way / My shining dream will keep on running,” really struck me as lyrics that capture Non-san—someone who believed in her own heartbeat and kept running even when the path was invisible.

I guess I can't completely separate myself from it after all. More than who I am now, this might hold traces of the me who was feeling stifled, the me who was just throwing myself into things without a second thought. That was an important time too.

▲The two of us at the recording studio

――Track 11 is “Me, the Fool, and You” (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON). That line, “Even being worn down by someone else, that too is life. Such illusions, fantasies, ahead lies utter darkness. Break it,” is the best. Plus, the melody and shout for “Break it” here feel absolutely amazing.

Thank you! Actually, the only part I wrote was those first two lines. The rest was composed by Kei. When Kei was stuck, I gave her a pep talk: “I'll throw you all these scraps I wrote. If anything clicks, just run with it.” That's how this song came together. So I wondered if it was okay to say “Composed by NON,” but she insisted, “It stems from Non-chan's chorus, so it's a song Non-chan created.”

――That chorus really expresses the core part that Non-san wants to cherish most, the part that came out naturally in “Byou Shin” too, expressed straight.

The chorus I wrote had a punk feel, and I think Kei-san made it in a ‘Renarrate’ style. The lyrics for the big chorus at the end were really tough, and I couldn't come up with anything until the very last minute. They finally came together the day before the second recording session.

▲The two in matching outfits every time they record

 

――The chorus of “Fools Like You and Me / We Can't Live Without Screaming” felt incredibly emotional and really elevated the song. And finally, “Little Rabbit” (Lyrics: NON / Music: Kei Higuchi). NON's acoustic version is included as a bonus track, and this song is just so incredibly cute.

Kei said, “I want to make a bonus track kind of song,” and “I want to make a recording just with Non-chan and Kei Higuchi,” and just threw it out there. I thought it was nice to have a lighthearted song like this on the album, so it ended up feeling like a playful track. The lyrics are based on the bunny from my picture book (“Cute Bunny. The Beard Club”). It's a story about a bunny who says “I want to be cool” and goes searching for it. I depicted the bunny feeling lost, or pacing around in the forest going “this won't work, that won't work,” making it a song about “cherishing what you love and aspire to.” It ends with the bunny accepting that it has both strength and weakness, even though it had only shown its strong side before.

――Earlier, I asked why you chose the theme “Renarrate” now. Hearing your story, I feel that precisely because you endured that period you mentioned as “important” – a time when the path forward wasn't clear for you as Non – and have now found your own light, you were able to renarrate yourself. Do you sense that?

Ah, that might be it. The structure shows the journey from the person I was back then—someone who rarely shared my weaknesses with others—to the stronger person I am now. It feels like a work that encapsulates my entire life.

 

Interview＆Text：Yukako Yajima

▲After vocal recording, 

 

 

■NON 3rd Full Album “Renarrate” Product Overview

＜Track List＞

1. Film no Hikari(Lyrics: NON / Music: NON / Arrangement: Takahiro Shibata)
2. Renarrate (Lyrics: NON / Music: Kei Higuchi / Arrangement: Kei Higuchi)
3. Yume no azi (Lyrics: NON / Music: Kei Higuchi / Arrangement: Kei Higuchi)
4. Climby (Lyrics: Ai Higuchi / Music: Kei Higuchi / Arrangement: Kei Higuchi)
5. Meiwaku na rinzin (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON / Arrangement: Takahiro Shibata)
6. Mizu wo (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON / Arrangement: Kei Higuchi)
7. Kirei na kutsu haite (Lyrics: Higuchi Kei / Music: Higuchi Kei / Arrangement: Higuchi Kei)
8. Haru yo Ukete tatsu (Lyrics: NON / Music: Higuchi Kei / Arrangement: Higuchi Kei)
9. Byoushin (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON / Arrangement: Higuchi Kei)
10. Nigai Kazitsu (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON / Arrangement: Kei Higuchi)
11. Orokamono no boku to kimi (Lyrics: NON / Music: NON / Arrangement: Kei Higuchi)
12.Ko Usagi(BONUS TRACK) (Lyrics: NON / Music: Kei Higuchi / Arrangement: Kei Higuchi)

 

＜Overview＞
Release Date: Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Number of Tracks: 12

・Regular Edition
Format: CD (includes newly shot booklet)
Price: ¥3,300 (tax included) / KRCD-00013

・NON Official Fan Club “NON KNOCK” Edition
Format: Big Size Jacket CD
Price: ¥6,900 (tax included) / KRCD-00014

Digital Download Here

https://linkco.re/1ybv91Vb?lang=ja

TOWER RECORDS
tower.jp/item/6928728

Amazon
amzn.asia/d/02De3KJ

NON GOODS SHOP
https://nongoods.jp/products/renarrate

 

■「Renarrate」Tour Overview

“NON Renarrate tour 2025”
Fukuoka Performance: 9/12 (Fri) Doors Open 6:30 PM / Show Starts 7:00 PM (Venue: Fukuoka INSA) ※SOLD OUT※
Osaka Performance: 9/19 (Fri) Doors Open 6:30 PM / Show Starts 7:00 PM (Venue: Yogibo META VALLEY)
Sendai Performance: 9/21 (Sun) Doors Open 4:30 PM / Show Starts 5:00 PM (Venue: Sendai darwin)
Tokyo Performance: 9/23 (Tue/Holiday) OPEN 4:15 PM / START 5:00 PM (Venue: Ebisu Garden Hall) ※SOLD OUT※

Ticket Types Common to All Performances:
¥8,500 (Tax included / 1 drink charge separate)
U25 Discount ¥4,500 (Tax included / 1 drink charge separate)
*Ebisu Garden Hall is reserved seating; other venues are general admission.

e+ https://eplus.jp/non
Pia https://t.pia.jp/pia/artist/artists.do?artistsCd=D5310018
Lawson ticket https://l-tike.com/concert/mevent/?mid=395588

 

＜NON Profile＞

Actress and artist. Active across diverse genres including music, film production, and art.
Voiced the protagonist Suzu in the 2016 theatrical anime “In This Corner of the World,” winning the Special Jury Prize at the 38th Yokohama Film Festival. In December 2020, she starred in the film “Hold Me Back,” which won the Audience Award in the TOKYO Premier 2020 section at the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival. In February 2022, she released the film “Ribbon,” which she wrote, directed, and starred in (Special Invitation in the GALA section at the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival).
In September 2022, she won the Outstanding Actress Award at the 46th Japan Academy Film Prize for her leading role in the film “The Fish Tale”. She voices the protagonist Haru in the Netflix series “Pokémon Concierge”, streaming worldwide starting December 2023.
Her starring film “The Hotel of my Dream” premiered in December 2024. In February 2025, she starred in the live-action drama “Happy Kanako's Killer Life” on DMMTV. In April, she appeared in the Netflix film “Bullet Train Explosion”; in September, she starred in the ABEMA original drama “MISS KING”; and in October, the films “After the Quake” and “Teppen no Mukou ni anata ga Iru” are scheduled for release.

In her music career, she performed at the ‘STRAWBERRY MUSIC FESTIVAL 2025’ held in Dongguan and Beijing, China in May and August 2025. On September 3rd, she released her 3rd full album ‘Renarrate’. That same month, she toured four cities nationwide for the album tour.

Furthermore, her creative work—which has continuously challenged free expression beyond the boundaries of acting, music, film, and art—was recognized with the 16th Itami Juzo Award in 2024.