NEW YORK ¨C Seiho Hayakawa knows how to work a room. After his show at Black Bear Bar in Brooklyn ¡ª a performance that saw him thrashing his long hair back and forth to electronic beats ¡ª the Osaka-born musician takes a walk through the crowd. He chats with the locals and poses for selfies. The overall verdict is that he¡¯s pretty charming.
In fact, the 29-year-old¡¯s charm offensive seems to be working in many areas. Speaking to The Japan Times last week, pop star Akiko Yano also sang Hayakawa¡¯s praises. They worked together on her album ¡°Welcome to Jupiter¡± last year. More recently, he collaborated with J-pop star Daichi Miura on his track ¡°Cry & Fight.¡±
When The Japan Times spoke to Hayakawa in 2012 it was for the release of ¡°Mercury¡± on his own Day Tripper Records label. Since then he has managed to climb the ranks of the country¡¯s independent electronic music scene and, along with Takuma Hosokawa (aka Avec Avec), released an album on a major label as Sugar¡¯s Campaign (¡°Friends,¡± 2015). Hayakawa has now released his third solo album, ¡°Collapse,¡± via Matthewdavid¡¯s Leaving Records based out of Los Angeles. It¡¯s being released in Japan via Beatink.
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