Lorde × Aki Akane - A Songstress from New Zealand and an Artist Born on Nico Nico Douga Collaborate!

What’s more important than a glamorous life?

The song infused with such a message, “Royals” by Lorde, has taken over the charts in America and England and was nominated in four categories at the 56th Grammy Awards. Lorde’s first album Pure Heroine will be released in Japan on Feb. 19. This album was released in America and Europe last fall and it debuted at No. 3 on album charts in America. Pure Heroine will be Lorde’s debut in Japan.

Lorde is a 17-year-old singer from New Zealand. Her simple yet resounding vocals and messages have amassed overwhelming support from those of her generation. The extent of her popularity can be grasped just by looking at the YouTube page for her song “Royals,” which has over 170 million views.

She is a singer who has picked up buzz even in Japan. Now, it’s been decided that Aki Akane, an artist who is primarily active on Nico Nico Douga, will create the illustrations for Lorde’s music video.

Aki Akane debuted on Nico Nico Douga in 2008 with the songs “Love is War - Strum Mix - Uttemita” and “Singer.” She has also gathered attention as an artist for her artwork that she routinely uses on her album covers. Her impressive characters that are dynamically colored using mainly primary colors and have cool eyes have become talked about among Nico Nico users and those in the music industry. Having begun with “uttemita”-related CD jacket illustrations, her popularity increased and she was chosen to create the jacket for the popular Japanese duo Yuzu’s single “Shou.” We would like you to experience Aki Akane’s world through her new illustrations and video.

We wonder how Aki Akane will refine the style of the world of “Royals” by Lorde, who has become a world-class songstress. Look forward to the release of the music video.

Lorde’s Official Site

This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.