Toru Kitajima

Biography

Toru Kitajima (Japanese: 北嶋 徹, Hepburn: Kitajima Tōru; born December 23, 1982 in Machida, Tokyo), better known as TK, is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the rock band Ling Tosite Sigure, which formed in 2002. In 2011, he started to release solo material as TK from Ling Tosite Sigure (TK from 凛として時雨).

Biography

TK started his solo career with a limited DVD titled Film A Moment. Released in 2011, the DVD features a photobook and a movie shot on 8mm film that acts as a music video for the three tracks on the disc.
TK's first album, Flowering×flowering27 June 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1flower4:392Abnormal trick4:013haze3:584phase to phrase3:295white silence (album version)6:58612th laser2:387film A moment (album version)7:118daylily2:359fourth4:2810sound_am3262:33, was released on June 27, 2012, and featured alternate versions of "Film A Moment×film A moment27 April 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1introduction2white silence7:373film A moment7:58" and "White Silence" (both being originally featured on the DVD release Film A Moment) along with seven new tracks and an additional hidden track titled "Sound_am326." The limited press version featured a live studio session (DVD) of selected tracks from the album directed by P.B. Anderson. Musicians such as BOBO from Miyavi Crew, and Hidekazu Hinata from Nothing's Carved in Stone featured on the album.
Kitajima's second release was prefaced by the single "Unravel×unravel23 July 2014 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 4 tracks1unravel4:002Fu re te Fu re ru3:383Acoustic Installation6:044unravel (TV edit)1:30", which acted as the opening for the popular anime series Tokyo Ghoul and the mini-album Contrast×contrast5 March 2014 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1contrast4:592Dramatic Slow Motion3:523Crazy Tampern3:204illusion is mine (live from “December’s Calling” at 赤坂BLITZ 2013.12.22)6:185涙の旅路3:41. "Unravel" had three versions to note, one of them featuring artwork inspired by the series it fronted, the other featuring a DVD titled Killing You Softly (an acoustic live DVD) featuring the track "Jewel of Sin", which would be featured on TK's third album White Noise×white noise28 September 2016 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Signal5:212Wonder Palette5:043dead end complex4:324Addictive Dancer4:555white out5:066Secret Sensation4:547Showcase Reflection3:468like there is tomorrow (album version)5:289罪の宝石3:4210invalid phrase5:36. And both TK and Ling Tosite Sigure tracks reworked as acoustic pieces. The other version pressed was the standard edition, which featured three tracks, one being featured as the BGM for the Flowering DVD.
The mini-album Contrast was released the same year as "Unravel", being 2014 and featured a live DVD from the 2013 Rock in Japan Festival along with a bonus video filmed in Berlin for the song "Tokio" (limited pressing only). The album also featured a live reworking of the Ling Tosite Sigure song "Illusion is Mine". Both "Unravel" and "Contrast" contained additional B-sides.
Fantastic Magic is TK's second album and features seven new tracks, one featuring vocalist Chara, a reworking of "Dramatic Slow Motion", and the other being "Contrast". The limited pressing contains music videos for songs featured on the album, along with "Haze", released on Flowering.
Secret Sensation was released in early 2016, Kitajima's second mini-album. As before it featured a live track, this one being "White Silence" and a song that would be reworked on White Noise along with respective B-sides as before. The limited press contained two music videos, one for "Secret Sensation×Secret Sensation5 February 2016 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Secret Sensation4:53" and the other for "Like There is Tomorrow".
TK's second single, "Signal×Signal15 July 2016 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Signal (TV edit)1:30", was featured as an opening for the anime 91 Days. "Signal" had two versions, one being a digipak release with artwork inspired by 91 Days, the other a standard jewel case. Both versions contained a reworked version of "Shandy", a Ling Tosite Sigure track from the album Still a Sigure Virgin?; and the acoustic version of "Unravel".
White Noise, being released in November 2016, featured six new tracks: a reworking of "Like There is Tomorrow", the singles "Signal" and "Secret Sensation", and a proper studio recording of "Jewel of Sin". The limited version featured a live DVD from the Secret Sensation Tour. In 2017, TK started to collaborate with Masayuki Nakano from the former electronic music band Boom Boom Satellites.
On November 21, 2018, TK released a new single, containing the song "Katharsis×katharsis10 October 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1katharsis4:22" and its instrumental and TV edit versions, and a song titled "Memento". "Katharsis" was used as the opening theme for the second season of Tokyo Ghoul:re. Its music video was released on November 20, 2018. On December 10, 2018, it was announced that TK would perform the theme song "P.S. Red I×P.S. RED I6 March 2019 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1P.S. RED I4:192moving on4:383P.S. RED I (Instrumental)4:16" for the Japanese release of the animated film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which was released in Japan on March 8, 2019.
On April 15, 2020, TK released his fourth studio album, 彩脳. April 14, 2021, he released his third EP by the name of Yesworld×yesworld14 April 2021 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 26 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11yesworld4:482unravel (n-buna from ヨルシカ Remix)3:523Dramatic Slow Motion (Reconstructed 2020)3:504unravel －From THE FIRST TAKE－4:155copy light －From THE FIRST TAKE－5:06Disc 21SE2Fantastic Magic3Kalei de scope4flower5インフィクション6鶴の仕返し7copy light8凡脳9蝶の飛ぶ水槽10unravel11彩脳 -TK Side-12P.S. RED I13memento14katharsis15Opening16彩脳 -TK Side-17P.S. RED I18凡脳19katharsis20copy light21片つ.
On August 5, 2021, TK releases his first teaser for "egomaniac feedback×egomaniac feedback13 October 2021 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 27 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11kanazawan2:492film A moment (film edition)7:463haze4:064contrast5:025unravel4:036Fantastic Magic4:107Secret Sensation4:588Signal5:259Wonder Palette5:0510katharsis4:2611memento6:3612P.S. RED I4:2113蝶の飛ぶ水槽6:0514yesworld4:5115will-ill5:1016daylily2:38Disc 21white silence (film edition)7:172Shinkiro5:043Shandy4:354moving on4:405melt4:466copy light5:057彩脳 -Sui Side-4:388unravel (n-buna from ヨルシカ Remix)3:569Future Tone Bender3:5210Super bloom4:1311掌の世界4:14" compilation album, with release date of Oct 13th, 2021.
Continuing his solo music project, TK, collaborated with Koshi Inaba of B'z at the start of 2022 to release the single As Long as I Love/Scratch on March 26, 2022.
At the end of 2022, TK would go on to release his hit song First Death with an official music video, do numerous interviews, and release a live of First Death from the Last Death tour filmed on his birthday, December 23.