Belle Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – English Edition Album of Score & Vocal Music From the Mamoru Hosoda Film by Taisei Iwasaki, Ludvig Forssell & Yuta Bandoh
VOCAL TRACKS PERFORMED IN ENGLISH BY KYLIE MCNEILL
AVAILABLE FRIDAY, JANUARY 14 FROM MILAN RECORDS
A MEDLEY OF SELECT ENGLISH VOCAL TRACKS FROM THE ALBUM CAN BE HEARD HERE.
BELLE OPENS IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE FRIDAY, JANUARY 14 IN BOTH
ORIGINAL JAPANESE LANGUAGE & ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION
NEW YORK, NY – Milan Records today announces the January 14th release of BELLE (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK – ENGLISH EDITION), an English language version of the Original Soundtrack to Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda's latest feature. Featuring both score and vocal tracks written by a team of composers led by Taisei Iwasaki and including Ludvig Forssell and Yuta Bandoh, the album includes English versions of vocal tracks originally performed in Japanese, newly recorded in English by Kylie McNeill, who voices ‘Belle’ in the English dubbed version of the film. The album follows the massive success of the original Japanese Edition of the soundtrack, which has garnered over 20 million streams globally since its July 2021 debut. Fans can get an early preview of the album's English Edition by watching a newly-released video featuring a medley of vocal tracks from the album with lyrics and imagery from the film – watch here.
BELLE follows shy, everyday high school student Suzu as she escapes into a virtual world, becoming a globally-beloved popstar named Belle and setting out on an emotional and epic quest to find herself. Ranging from anthemic pop ballads to emotionally-laden instrumentals, the soundtrack includes original vocal songs written and arranged by Taisei Iwasaki, Ludvig Forssell and Yuta Bandoh as performed in the film by both Suzu and her virtual persona Belle, as well as original score music also written by the trio and Grammy-nominated composer Miho Hazama. The film's main theme and album opener “U” was written and performed by groundbreaking Japanese act millennium parade led by Daiki Tsuneta, and two of the vocal tracks and recurring themes throughout the film, “Lend Me Your Voice” and “A Million Miles Away” also feature lyrics co-written by Mamoru Hosoda. The English album was produced by Taisei Iwasaki and supervised by Taka Chiyo alongside the team of composers and in collaboration with GKIDS and NYAV Post.
The album's arrival coincides with the US debut of the Studio Chizu film, which is set to open theatrically and on IMAX screens in both its original Japanese language and English dubbed version on Friday, January 14 via GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences.
ABOUT BELLE
From the celebrated Academy Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, creators of Mirai, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and more, comes a fantastical, heartfelt story of growing up in the age of social media.
Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U”, a massive virtual world, she escapes into her online persona as Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.
BELLE was released in theatres including IMAX screens in Japan starting July 16, 2021. Despite ongoing limited seating capacities and nationwide curfews, the film topped the box office for three consecutive weekends. The film marks Hosoda's first title to have IMAX screenings, and played in 38 IMAX theatres throughout Japan. BELLE has crossed over 6.53 billion yen in box office to date, and has become Hosoda's highest-grossing film ever, beating the lifetime gross of Boy and the Beast.
The English language dubbed version of BELLE will feature the voices of Chace Crawford (The Boys, Gossip Girl), Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers, The Good Place), and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria). In her first lead role, playing teenager Suzu and the titular virtual singer ‘Belle’ is Kylie McNeill, who also recorded English versions of the film's soundtrack.
CONNECT WITH BELLE
WEBSITE | TRAILER
BELLE (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK – ENGLISH EDITION)
TRACKLISTING –
- U – millennium parade, Belle*
- Whispers – Kylie McNeill*
- Slingshot – Miho Hazama, Taisei Iwasaki
- Memories of a Sound – Taisei Iwasaki
- Blunt Words – ermhoi
- Gales of Song – Belle*
- Fleeting Days – Ludvig Forssell
- Swarms of Song – Belle*
- Alle Psallite Cum Luya – Ryoko Moriyama, Sachiyo Nakao, Fuyumi Sakamoto, Yoshimi Iwasaki, Michiko Shimizu,
- Kaho Nakamura
- Fama Destinata – Belle*
- Dragon – Yuta Bandoh
- Justin – Yuta Bandoh
- Unveil – Yuta Bandoh
- Digital Ripples – Ludvig Forssell
- Dragon's Lair – Yuta Bandoh
- Lend Me Your Voice (draft) – Kylie McNeill*
- Social Warfare – Ludvig Forssell
- Assault – Yuta Bandoh
- Lend Me Your Voice – Belle*
- #UnveilTheBeast – Ludvig Forssell
- Authority and Arrogance – Ludvig Forssell
- Scorching the Façade – Yuta Bandoh
- The Truth Obscured – Ludvig Forssell
- Lend Me Your Voice (humming) – Bentley Griffin
- Distrust – Ludvig Forssell
- A Million Miles Away – Belle*
- Pieces of the Puzzle – Ludvig Forssell
- Faces in the Rain – Kylie McNeill*
- Skies of Song – Ludvig Forssell, Kylie McNeill*
- A Million Miles Away (reprise) – Belle*
*Denotes vocal track
BELLE – ARTIST BIO
The mysterious songstress who suddenly appeared within the virtual world of ＜U＞. As an artist, she is known as "Belle," which means "beautiful" in French.
Age: unknown.
Nationality: unknown.
Her unique attire and performances draw in an audience who all agree in unison that "it feels like she's singing just for me." Belle has managed to top the music charts almost overnight.
ARTIST SOCIALS: YOUTUBE | INSTAGRAM
ABOUT GKIDS
GKIDS is the producer and distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. Since 2010, the company has scored an astounding 12 Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations with The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, My Life as a Zucchini in 2017, The Breadwinner in 2018, Mirai in 2019, and Wolfwalkers in 2021. GKIDS also handles North American distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world's most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others; as well as the critically acclaimed television series, Neon Genesis Evangelion. GKIDS also hosts ANIMATION IS FILM (AIF), an annual LA-based film festival which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form, and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of the medium to its fullest range of artistic expressions. www.gkids.com
ABOUT STUDIO CHIZU
STUDIO CHIZU was established in April 2011 by director Mamoru Hosoda and producer Yuichiro Saito as a new base for filmmaking. Studio Chizu is a studio specializing in the planning and production of animated films, and the name of the studio reflects the spirit of filmmaking: "to challenge new motifs, themes, and expressions, and to create a new map in the land of animated films, where there are still infinite possibilities. For children and their families around the world, we want to continue to be a "challenger" to create new values and a future for this era. www.studiochizu.com
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