On the heels of the release of her much anticipated fifth full-length album Candy Racer and a global livestreaming event last Wednesday (10/27), internationally celebrated Japanese pop icon Kyary Pamyu Pamyu premiered the official music video for the new albums self-titled track today (11/2).

For the video, Kyary specifically asked to work with up-and-coming video director malloon, featured on BNN’s annual list “100 Japanese Motion Graphic Creators” in 2020 and 2021 while still attending college, who belongs to koe Inc. and is known for his “new style” music videos. Together with art director KASICO, who also belongs to koe Inc. and is known for his pop and graphic design work in advertising, malloon paid homage to horror movies with the new “Candy Racer” video.

Mixing various comedic gimmicks and looping expressions repeated to the song’s beat, the video features three friends visiting an old mansion, haunted by a ghost played by Kyary, who tries to scare away visitors. One by one, the young men experience inexplicable horrors inside the mansion, confirming that it is indeed haunted, and flee in fear. The video represents an artistic vision not seen previously throughout Kyary’s career and just as ambitious as her new album Candy Racer.

Available now on CD (in Japan only) and digitally (worldwide), Candy Racer debuted at #1 on iTunes EDM chart in Japan last week. The album is the first project to come out physically on Kyary’s new record label KRK Lab and marks her first album in three years. The CD version is accompanied by a hardcover digipak with a 64-page para para manga-style flip booklet.

True to the 28-year-old Tokyo artist’s electronic roots and eclectic style, Candy Racer shows the J-pop singer’s growth and desire for constant evolution. All eleven colorful tracks on Candy Racer were produced by Yasutaka Nakata, a legendary figure in the Japanese electro/pop scene and one half of the music duo CAPSULE, who has produced all five of Kyary’s albums.

Kyary premiered a number of tracks off Candy Racer pre-release, including the lead single “Gum Gum Girl” (released on January 29th in collaboration with GungHo’s Nintendo Switch video game Ninjala and its video has 2MM views on YouTube), another single “Gentenkaihi” (released on the 10th anniversary of the release of Kyary’s major label debut album (August 17th) and has 1.3MM views on YouTube), and the latest single “Dodonpa” (premiered October 13th via a lyric video). Other tracks released before the album came out include “Kimigaiinekuretara” (2.3MM views on YouTube), a romantic number featuring Japanese lore in its imagery, titled “Kamaitachi” (2MM views on YouTube), and the light/fun EDM track “Jumping Up.”