Candy Racer (Japanese: キャンディーレーサーKyandii Reesaa) is the fifth studio album by Japanese singerKyary Pamyu Pamyu, released on October 27, 2021, byNippon Columbia and its imprint KRK Lab as her first album release on the label.
After completing promotion for her fourth studio albumJapamyu in early 2019, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's contract withWarner Music Japan expired, leaving her an independent artist. On May 10, 2019, she independently released the digital single "Kimi ga Iine Kuretara" through her agency Asobisystem's in-house label Asobimusic.[3] It was used as a theme song to the Japanese drama seriesMukai no Bazuru Kazoku. The single was later re-released on vinyl in February 2020.[4] Kyary then performed her next single "Kamaitachi" on her birthday live with her music producerYasutaka Nakata on January 29, 2020. The song was released as a digital single on April 24, 2020, during the lockdowns brought by theCOVID-19 pandemic. Her planned national tourKamaitachi Tour 2020 was canceled because of the pandemic.[5]In early January 2021, Asobisystem announced that Kyary has signed a recording contract with Japanese record labelNippon Columbia and established her own imprint label KRK Lab as part of her tenth anniversary as a singer. She then released a new digital single "Gum Gum Girl" on January 29, 2021, her 28th birthday.[6] On August 16, 2021, Kyary released a new digital single, "Genten Kaihi".[7] On September 10, 2021, the album release was announced.[8] "Jumping Up" was released as a single from the album on September 29, 2021,[9] followed by "Dodonpa" on October 13, 2021, with an accompanying lyric video.[10] The music video for the title track was released on November 2, 2021, on YouTube.
Candy Racer debuted at the twenty-second spot of theOricon Weekly Albums Chart, selling 3,065 copies on its first week of release.[11] It continued to chart for three more weeks, and in total sold 3,932 copies.[12]
