We’ve introduced KOIAI as the twin-guitar project led by Li-sa-X and Hazuki. Here is the part that newcomers miss: the band’s name is a pun, and the pun is hidden in the first two records.
Deep Indigo, Deep Love
KOIAI formed in December 2022 around guitarists Li-sa-X and Hazuki. In May 2023 the band self-released its first EP, Deep Indigo. In Japanese, deep indigo is 濃い藍 — koi ai. In October 2023 came the second EP, Deep Love: 濃い愛 — also koi ai. Two different phrases, one reading — and that reading is the band’s name. The first two EPs spell out the two meanings hidden inside it: the colour and the feeling.
It’s a perfect name for this band, because the same idea runs through the music: one surface, two meanings. Songs that sound like bright pop on first listen turn out to be technically ferocious; guitar parts that read like math on paper sing like hooks. Deep Love, as the guitarists put it in an interview with Young Guitar, is packed with twin leads.
The Lineup Settles
The first EP featured vocalist Kotono, who has since left. The current KOIAI is a five-piece: Li-sa-X and Hazuki on guitars, Mirei Sakurada on vocals, Yunika Impact on bass and Kanade Sato on drums. The third EP, Come see me, released in November 2024, marked the point at which the drum chair became official — and for a band whose rhythms are this demanding, that stability shows.
A fourth EP, Starting Over, followed. The pattern holds: every release is a short, dense EP rather than a sprawling album, so every track has to justify itself.
Where to Start
Go in order. Deep Indigo and Deep Love first, as the pair that named the band; then Come see me to hear the full lineup lock in; then Starting Over. Four EPs is a short commute, and hearing KOIAI grow across them is half the fun.
