Victoria has nothing on this secret! Despite being in one of the nation’s most popular groups, Ayuni D has been keeping secret a little project for a while now. To the surprise of everyone, except the few BiSH fans who found out right away because of how distinctive her voice is, we’ve been thrust into the world of Aomushi (青虫).

Had a listen? “Yubune” is definitely a far cry from PEDRO’s angsty bass guitar and BiSH’s ballad rock, one might even say it’s pleasant sounding. Soft, even. If you’re checking out the charts then you’ll definitely recognise the producer, Kujira/whaledontsleep, as somebody who’s worked on a few songs with Ado. What’s popular in Jpop lately is husky, almost androgynous female vocals with melodic synth instruments usually taking inspiration from or outright being made by Vocaloid producers. Ayuni D fans’ eyes probably lit up upon seeing the phrase husky there, so if you’re a fan of the D then you’ll be able to see why this kind of project is being made with her in mind. From pop to punk to… pop-punk, an eclectic repertoire is building up here.

We’ve deluged into this particular niche before with Meme Tokyo’s recent single “The Struggle is Real” which, while on the dancier side, is another good entryway for us idol geeks into the deep voiced female singer/Vocaloid producer industrial complex. Much as Giga-P has switched out Len and Rin for Mew and Nene, Kujira has switched from Flower to Ayuni. To really hammer the point in, Kujira’s song “Kinmokusei” (金木犀) has been performed with the Vocaloid Flower, the chart topper Ado and now with our girl Ayuni under the Aomushi name. The smooth feeling electronica is juxtaposed in different ways with each vocalist, Ado’s rendition is busier feeling and she takes her voice up and down the scale with ease whereas Ayuni keeps things more consistent and of course, Flower is a robot.

Since February last year, Aomushi has been releasing the occasional song here and there which are all on YouTube for you yourself to check out. While the back-catalogue consists of covers, Aomushi’s debut EP hits next month with four original songs and the special edition with a special fifth but also… Aomushi shampoo! Really.

So take a deep dive into Ayuni’s new (for most of us) selection of songs and after you resurface, you’ll be able to shower it off with some refreshing Yubune shampoo. Don’t forget to stream it too! Really work up a sweat by clicking that button so we can wash our sweaty, sweaty scalps with Essence of Ayuni.