A Deep Dive Into the Genius of Soma Saito and his Music

Singer-songwriter genius Soma Saito is back with a long-awaited 3rd full-length album titled “Fictions”.

Some of you may be thinking “Well, now is as good a time as any to check his music for the first time!”.

And that’s a good thing!

Now, where do you start? 

  • Are you gonna check “Fictions” and then go back to his previous CDs? 
  • Which CD is actually a good entry point for you?
  • Which vibe or concept suits you the best? 
  • What type of storyteller is Soma Saito?

Let’s talk about Soma Saito’s full-length albums and EPs.

Well, while Soma Saito’s music draws a lot of inspiration from pop, you may find that his melodies and rhythms are not that unfamiliar. This element of familiarity helps you get into this music.

However…

Here’s the thing: his music is quite niche as a whole.

Soma Saito has a wealth of music knowledge and a big passion for various music genres. He can go from a pop tune to an EDM song, to a heartbreaking ballad, an emo-rock tune, and a heart-shattering shoegaze song in which there are barely any lyrics.

Some of the artists that he draws influence from include Oasis, Spitz, Base Ball Bear, Arctic Monkeys, Block Party, The Cure, and My Bloody Valentine.

Beyond saying that he is an alternative rock artist, you can’t really define his music.

Soma Saito is a perfect mix of all these influences, alongside a strong focus on art to create concepts.

And talking about concepts….

Even if he doesn’t define himself as such there is no denying that since “my blue vacation”, Soma Saito has been a conceptual artist.

Each CD has a well-told story from start to finish in which each song feels like reading a new chapter in a book.

In that book – literally, some CDs are book-shaped – you have a concept leading it.

Saito takes listeners on a seemingly happy journey at the start, slowly taking them through maddening, complex, dark, esoterical, and deeply emotional places as you get further into his CDs.

Some of his concepts involve mental health, self-love, discovery, longing, surrealism, and the duality of men.

Usually, his music is considered really “dark”, which is something that you may be wondering: but isn’t this going to shoo away potential new fans?

No, this is actually something that may attract new ones such as potentially yourself. 

When you compare him to all other solo artists among male seiyuu, you will notice he is the most unique whether you like his music or not.

And that’s because:

  • He’s not dancing on stage.
  • He’s not doing fanservice.
  • He’s not doing trendy music.

Each CD has a unique concept.

He writes lyrics and composes all his songs. 

He chooses the concepts and goes as much into detail about those as even choosing the motifs for his concepts.

His music is really dark and emotional and it speaks to you in ways that no other seiyuu artist does.

So he’s really unique.

This can be off-putting for some people. Yes. 

But then again, we don’t all have to like the same music, do we?

The general reaction when someone listens to one of Soma Saito’s CDs is usually that he is a genius. Also, people are usually broken emotionally by his music. 

Me included.

As a lyricist, Soma Saito is a master.

Sci-fi is the basis of his inspiration as a writer but also, but you can tell that thrillers, action, and drama novels have inspired some of his lyrics.

At the same time, he brings influences from modern art, movies, sculpture, architecture, psychology, and metaphysics into his music. 

You can expect him to create a story you want to explore. Even knowing or suspecting that it will get really dark, really quickly.

And that, for sure, there will be a twist in the story ready to happen at any time.

Saito is actually quite subtle in the way he creates his stories. 

He wants the listener to first immerse themselves and ease into the story with a rather welcoming opening song. Nothing is too clear but that’s how he likes to do it.

It sets the tone, but you know the album will never end on the same note.

That’s your story prologue.

After that he slowly starts building up the story, giving you chapter after chapter. 

And you barely notice that he’s put you in the place of the main or the various main characters across the story being told in the CD. 

Yes, you are listening and experiencing the feelings that each character went through but… on a close look, you notice that, actually, the story is for you to feel it in the first person.

And that’s when things start to hit you really hard, emotionally, of course. 

No fans were harmed during the listening of Soma Saito’s CDs. (I think)

Another thing that Soma Saito does in his CDs is that he is on purpose writing the story and creating a world that you, as the listener, will want to fill in the gaps.

And Saito actually leaves a lot of room for interpretation of his songs. And that room that he leaves is exactly how he ingeniously pulls the rug off of you, with the CD’s twist. 

The twist is, usually, only available for those who purchase the physical CDs.

Why?

Because Soma Saito’s CDs have hidden songs.

Now, tell me if that isn’t cool?!

So, although the CD goes through the motions of the prologue, the brunt of the story, and the ending, in the brunt of the story, he slowly starts changing the tone and that’s usually when he joins the story as an omniscient writer and holds your hand.

I’m not kidding. 

All of of Saito’s CDs since “in bloom”, released in 2020, have this same storytelling gimmick. 

Saito joins in the story mid-way through to give you a hand, for you to not go through the whole story alone. 

And that’s because it starts getting extremely dark and emotional mid-way through until the end.

The story usually finishes in a twist only provided in the hidden song in the physical CD.

This is something that makes the whole experience of purchasing a physical CD, even more magical. Because you have access to the end of the story, the twist that will make everything clear to you.

But you can already find some of the hidden tracks on a special CD.

This hidden track, which all of Soma Saito’s albums and EPs have, usually makes you want to listen to the album again.

Why? Because he provides you the clarity about the main theme of the album, who was the narrator, what was happening and where you, the listener, actually were in that story.

It’s crazy, but Saito, is way too good at this thing. The way he gives you the twist will, for sure, make you listen to the CD from the start again.

And that’s when fan theories and analysis start appearing online. This is a CD but feels like reading a book.

Saito’s motif: flowers (trees/plants)

One thing that eagle-eyed fans have noticed is that Soma Saito, since “quantum stranger” has a recurring motif.

Flowers.

He has flowers in “quantum stranger”, “my blue vacation”, “in bloom”, “my beautiful valentine”, “Yin/Yang” and now in “Fictions”.

This motif is important as nearly every sentiment can be expressed by flowers. 

It’s been said that “Flowers are a perfect replica of human life: Planting, growing, blooming, withering.

And would you look at that, those are the main themes about his CDs so far. And even the feel of the CDs is like a cycle.

Planting. Growing. Blooming. And withering.

So, yeah, flowers are a big thing for Soma Saito as an artist.

Now’s lets go over Saito’s albums and EPs chronologically and let me show you why you should check each of them.

Soma Saito’s albums and EPs: a quick review

Of course, I have to talk about Soma Saito’s music, if you’re a regular on this website or you follow the content on the YouTube channel or the podcast SEIYUU LOUNGE, you already know how I roll when it comes to Soma Saito. 

I take on average 6 hours to review each CDs, write an essay that never ends, and then I spend months talking about how his music is literally unlike anything other male seiyuu artists are doing.

He’s that fascinating and unique as an artist and as a storyteller.

1st album “quantum stranger”

soma saito quantum stranger

quantum stranger arrived at a point in Soma Saito’s career in which he finally got handed control over his creative direction as an artist. As such, this is one of the less cohesive-sounding CDs in his repertoire.

The CD mixes songs written and composed by other people with Saito’s first-ever self-penned songs.

“quantum stranger” is an album that demands being listened to from start to finish with no interruptions. Crafty instrumentals, clever lyrics, and really solid vocal performances are just a fraction of the quality content found in this album. “Kessho Sekai” stands out as its best song by far.

The concept of “Decadence” started in this CD and went on to influence “my blue vacation” and “in bloom”, being wrapped up in that visceral 2nd album.

This is, by far, the easiest CD to get into Soma Saito’s music.

Interestingly enough, fans of this CD – due to its sound being more pop – will probably not like the following albums as none venture into pop music as much or at all.

1st EP “my blue vacation”

Soma Saito my blue vacation regular cover
my blue vacation

my blue vacation” is the oddball in Soma Saito’s repertoire so far. The 1st EP, released in 2019, was extremely experimental.

And it was the first time Soma Saito had written lyrics and composed songs for a CD from scratch.

It is fun, there are moments but you can tell the differences in tone in comparison to “quantum stranger” as this one is more rock-driven. 

The concept was that of reality and dreams. The first half of the CD covers the “reality” part of the concept. The latter half covers the “dreams” part of the concept.

The best song in the CD is “Tonight” although “memento” and “ringo” are fan favorites.

2nd album “in bloom”

Soma Saito "in bloom" regular edition

The behemoth.

This album arrived like a train ready to smash your feelings.

 “in bloom” was the first full-length album in which Soma Saito had full creative freedom from the songs to the lyrics, concept, and art.

This sophomore album showcases an unshackled artist creating and performing the music that best suits his style. This was beautiful to listen to. An artist being told by his fans to go darker in his music and to write what he wants was the perfect way to motivate him to create this outstanding CD.

This album has a main concept: what lies beyond the end of the world. But you also have as sub-concepts mental health, love, longing, and nostalgia.

And to top it all off, Saito tackled a behemoth of an 8-minute track with “Isana”, song that feels like a long feature movie. An odyssey almost.

It is a long, dark story with an underlying motivational edge. To this day, I can’t listen to this song without being in complete silence or looking really sad.

Believe it or not, the album was so dark for Soma Saito that he wrote “Saigo no Hanabi”, a sweet pop tune, as the twist to it to ease in a bit of the darkness and sadness fans would be feeling by the time they reached the end of the album.

2nd EP “my beautiful valentine”

Soma Saito "my beautiful valentine"
Regular

Easily the best album ever to be released by a male seiyuu artist, “my beautiful valentine” is a marvel in storytelling starting from such an abstract concept as “surrealism”.

Now… how to put “surrealism” into a tangible, easy-to-understand way in music format?

That was the challenge.

“my beautiful valentine” swept everyone off their feet with a hauntingly beautiful and dark set of songs that showcased how impressive Saito is as a singer-songwriter.

This album is a descent into madness, pleasure, desire, and darkness. 

Each song is a chapter in that alternative reality, in that fever dream. 

Pain and pleasure go hand in hand as you go through the songs in this EP, letting darkness seep through, embrace you, and lead the way to your demise. 

Fourth-wall-breaking happenings are present in this EP, a first for Soma Saito who stopped telling you the story to ask you what you feel about it as you sit there alone. 

Was this all a dream? What is reality?

This is his best CD to date.

3rd EP “Yin/Yang”

Yin/Yang
Regular

And finally, we have “Yin/Yang” that arrived back to back with “my beautiful valentine”.

Now, this EP was slightly different to gauge as the story did take quite a bit of time to start picking up the pace. But as soon as the story started picking up the pace… Saito gave you the ride of your life.

In “Yin/Yang” you go from the creation of paradise to it turning into pure hell to its destruction by its creator. 

It is a rollercoaster ride of pure madness. glee and power, showing that instead of “light” and “dark” sides, people inherently have both light and darkness intertwined. 

“mirrors” is the first song Saito wrote about himself and his struggles with impostor syndrome, once again putting the spotlight on mental health, but doing so in a sensible way.

This EP, of course, wraps up with another genius rug pull by Soma Saito as the narrator of the story is unveiled in a grandiose way in a glam rock song, catching everyone off guard.

This is a slow burn of an EP but certainly well worth checking out.


Now it’s time to get ready for Soma Saito’s 3rd full-length album “Fictions”!

Let me know in the comments if you’re looking forward to it! Also, which is your favorite Soma Saito album/EP and why?

Vanessa Silva
Vanessa Silvahttps://www.handthatfeedshq.com
The Hand That Feeds HQ founder, content creator, and music reviewer. Basically, the only person managing everything at The Hand That Feeds HQ. Stumbling upon Mamoru Miyano's "Orpheus" in 2011 was the start of this journey. If music is thought-provoking or deep, you may find her writing almost essays (not limited to, but it happens a lot with Soma Saito's music). She's the producer and host of the male seiyuu-centric podcast, SEIYUU LOUNGE (see Spotify link in this profile).

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