春ねむり (Japanese singer-songwriter/rapper)

Haruna Kimishima (君島 悠奈, Kimishima Haruna), known by her stage name Haru Nemuri (春 ねむり, Haru Nemuri), is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and "poetry rapper". Her musical style mixes influences from J-pop, rap, post-hardcore, experimental pop, art rock, and electronica. She is currently based in Tokyo. Kimishima grew up in the Isogo Ward of Yokohama, Japan. In early life, Kimishima mentions that she was "like a child of emptiness itself" and was unable to understand herself. In high school, she gradually started to recognize her emotions when she started to make music. When she was 17, she formed a duo band with her friend playing the synths and learned how to make tracks. After they disbanded, Kimishima began her career as Haru Nemuri when she was 21. In October 2016, Haru Nemuri made her debut by releasing her first mini-album Sayonara, Youth Phobia. In June 2017, her second mini-album Atom Heart Mother was released. The release event took place at Shibuya Loft 9 in Tokyo. In September, she released her first double A-side single "Hello@New World" / "Torikobo Sareta Machi Kara Ai wo Komete," which was written with Japanese singer-songwriter Mariko Goto. On October 26, Nemuri held her first one-man live titled Boku wo Saishuu Heiki ni shita nowa Kimi sa at Musashino Kokaido, Tokyo. Haru Nemuri released her first full album Haru to Shura on April 11, 2018 and gained international attention. Realizing that her music was being internationally accepted, Nemuri became active in reaching out to her international audiences and performed her first overseas show in Taiwan at the Spring Scream 2018. Nemuri continued to promote the album through shows and events in Tokyo. In August, she released her EP Kick in the World which had been written for the MOOSIC LAB 2017 exhibition movie "eternal/spring movie". Kick in the World was quickly highlighted internationally, where Stereogum chose the EP as its number 1 song of the week. She released two digital singles titled "I Wanna" in September and "Tokyo (Ewig Wiederkehren)" in October, the latter of which was a rearranged version of "Tokyo" on Sayonara, Youth Phobia. Nemuri returned to Taiwan in October to perform a show at the 巨獸搖滾音樂祭 8.0 BEASTIE ROCK FESTIVAL. One year after its release, Haru to Shura became available in vinyl throughout Europe through Specific Recordings. Between March and April 2019, Haru Nemuri took off on the Hello! Ni Hao! Konnichiwa! ASIA TOUR 2019, her first Asian tour, with Mariko Goto. The tour had shows in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan and Tokyo. From May to June, she performed 14 shows on the Haru to Shura European Tour 2019. This included performances at Primavera Sound 2019 in Spain, Nippon Connection Film Festival 2019 and the Wilwarin Festival 2019 in Germany. In October, she contributed the track "Kick in the World (Alternate Version)" to The Needle Drop LP, a curated charity compilation. On January 10, 2020, Nemuri released the single "Fanfare." The music video for the single was shot under extreme temperatures over the frozen Amur River in Russia. In March, the single "Riot" was released, alongside a music video filmed at the Russian Circus in Moscow. "Fanfare" and "Riot" preceded the mini-album Lovetheism, which was released on March 20. In March, Nemuri was scheduled to perform at South by Southwest, but the festival was cancelled due to COVID-19. In place of the cancelled show, she held a livestream performance on YouTube called Unused VISA on March 23. In June, Nemuri shared the music video for "Trust Nothing but Love" (Japanese title: Ai Yori Tashika na Mono Nante Nai). On June 19, she released a fundraiser single titled "Heart of Gold (Demo)" through her Bandcamp in support of the Black Lives Matter protest movement, with all sales being donated to the NAACP. Haru Nemuri released "Bang" on January 15, 2021 along with a music video. Both the song and music video had been done remotely online between Tokyo and Los Angeles, with the video being filmed in Skid Row Downtown Los Angeles. Nemuri shared a long statement about the song and the inspiration behind it, in which she discusses social division and the hope she finds in 'praying.' On March 21, she made an appearance on the SXSW Online 2021 with a full one shot take show from Tokyo. This performance had been highlighted by the New York Times and Nemuri was chosen as one of their "15 Best Acts" from the festival. Within the same month, the single "Inori Dake Ga Aru" was released. Nemuri later mentioned in an interview that she wrote the song when she was going through a catastrophically rough time with death in mind and wrote the song with only prayers of saving herself. Because of this, she did not plan to release it. "Seventh Heaven," the theme song of the movie, Colorless (Japanese: Sarugakucho de Aimasho) was released as a single on May 28. Nemuri followed that up with the single "Old Fashioned" in July. The music video for the song includes subtitled English lyrics that directly express her anger and resignation towards society. On October 1, Nemuri released the single "Déconstruction" which was co-produced with the producer duo MyRiot. Nemuri explained "It's a song for all souls to be so noble. When you fight for your soul, this song is for you." She further explained "'We should destroy that structure,' as a way of overturning the dichotomous way of thinking that had been prevalent in Western philosophy up to that point. I felt that this was what our world needs right now." In March 2022, Haru Nemuri embarked on her first North American tour which had previously been postponed four times due to the pandemic. The tour had sold out performances in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Nemuri also appeared at SXSW Music Festival 2022 and was praised for having one of the best performances of the festival by Austin Chronicle and Paste Magazine. Nemuri also appeared on stage with Pussy Riot performing the song "Police State." After her North American tour, Nemuri surprise released the single "Ikiru" as the lead single from her upcoming album. It was released alongside a music video starring Japanese actress Ruka Ishikawa. A part of Shuntaro Tanikawa's literary work, "Ikiru" is quoted in the song by poetry reading, being used with direct permission from Tanikawa himself. When asked in an interview, Nemuri stated "'Ikiru' is about when you feel that momentary notice that you can still be alive. I wrote it when I felt that moment and made it into a song from the bottom of my heart. But it was really tough when I sung it today... I usually live my life forgetting about that feel, so every time I sing or listen to it, it makes me think that there are moments like this in life." On April 22, Haru Nemuri released her second full album, Shunka Ryougen, which included all her singles released from 2021 to 2022. The album received critical acclaim such as an 8/10 from Pitchfork, as well as year end placements on lists by Pitchfork and Spin. On September 13, Haru Nemuri held a kick off party for her Shunka Ryougen North America Tour 2022 at Space Odd Shibuya in Tokyo, Japan. In October, she officially embarked on the tour which included a show at the Pop Montreal Festival in Montreal, and thirteen shows in the United States. After the third show, Nemuri tested positive for COVID-19 and several shows were postponed. The tour restarted from Dallas, Texas and ended in Portland, Oregon. The tour continued into East Asia in 2023, where she performed at the Maho Rasop Festival in Thailand, Okinawa, and Taiwan, including a show at the Emerge Festival in Taipei. She then resumed her North American tour to complete a string of shows which were postponed from the year before. Nemuri stopped in Austin, Texas for several shows at the SXSW 2023, including a show at the Dr. Martens Presents stage along with Danny Brown. There, Haru Nemuri performed "Old Fashioned" with Taiwanese-rappers SiNNER MOON and Peatle, as well