Response: Catch the Moment
The three-year* hiatus finally comes to an end.
On April 16th, I finally revealed the album I've been working on since even before releasing my debut album, "Sunrise Roadshow," titled "HOW DO YOU LIVE?". This album paves the path for a new branch of work that perfectly outshines all that World's Last Garden has ever been since I launched it in 2019.
The first to display that effort is the lead single from the album, "Catch the Moment."
In a sense, you could consider it a sister song to Breathing Tomorrow or Soaraway, as it follows the same themes of self-repair and stardom. Of course, that isn't the driving theme of HDYL, or that would certainly be quite boring, wouldn't it be?
No, the difference here is the outgoing message. With Sunrise Roadshow, a lot of the album drove home the idea of "I'm suffering from creating and drowning under my own pressure," but Catch the Moment flips that on its head and inside pushes the message, "Even if I don't get anywhere, I still have to do my best to keep going."
The image I wanted to paint with this song was somewhat a more refined version of what I tackled with songs like Breathing Tomorrow and Soaraway: my never-ending struggle of imposter syndrome and the dreadful feeling of non-success.
Things like, "Even if I was like them at eighteen, I couldn't muster up their likeness of realized creative genius," which grew from when I was younger, being compared to all these bigger, successful, creatively rich musicians that I couldn't and didn't hold a candle to by the time I was eighteen. That largely tells the foundation of Catch the Moment—I had been lead up with all these hopes that I would make it big like everyone else, and that made a pretty big part of who I felt I was.
Ultimately, I pray that my music falls on ears of those who want something different—not manufactured, not easily influenced, and unique from the trends.
It was with full intent that I went into my sophomore album knowing that it was going to be hard, it would take a long time, and I would probably go through many revisions or rewrites before I got somewhere I was proud of.
Catch the Moment is a prime example of that. Unlike Breathing Tomorrow, which released within two months of starting work on it, Catch the Moment began production on May 14th, 2024.
I originally started out with much different lyrics that eventually became a problem for me. Despite knowing what I wanted, I couldn't seem to write lyrics that felt like me.
The original words I wrote followed more of a theme of despair, opposite to the words I wrote in the end. From the perspective of having already given up, that fate already decided I was done for. The theme was originally, "If I died, could you still cherish my memory? If I died, would my name make it around the world?"
Ultimately, I pondered on what the song meant. I sat on Catch the Moment for a long amount of time, rewrote the lyrics at one point to resemble an older brother who was successful singing to his little brother who wanted to be like him.
That idea somewhat carried forward with the final lyrics.
Before even reaching the end, though, I uploaded a version with Japanese lyrics strictly using the chanting part toward the end of the song, since those remained throughout the whole process.
Some may recognize this from a YouTube short uploaded around that time showcasing my day-to-day life, where the second album was merely mentioned but not by name.
夏の終わりに花火が燃える (結束 ver.) - 21s CM
It wasn't until December 19th, 2025, that I finally realized the final version of the song. Before that, I went months without working on it, and the middle verse between choruses didn't even exist.
From there, the album has come more and more together, between consistent production, lyricism, and self-understanding.
Maybe, just maybe, you'll see Catch the Moment on a higher note than my previous works. In my eyes, it perfectly represents the time that's passed over the past six years, and who I've become as a person and as a musician.
I hope you look forward to the continued releases of HOW DO YOU LIVE?, and anticipate the next!
Catch the Moment | World's Last Garden
*By three years, of course, I refer to the time between albums. While the selective OST from VIVARIUM and ETERNAL EVERLASTING fill that gap, the large majority of people likely don't recognize them.
