The Orchard Japan Soulful singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata releases her fifth album, “Starlit Alchemy,” her first in nearly 10 years.

【The Orchard Japan】 Soulful singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata releases her fifth album, “Starlit Alchemy,” her first in nearly 10 years. ​
The Orchard Japan Press release: September 5, 2025 Soulful singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata releases her fifth album, “Starlit Alchemy,” her first in nearly 10 years. The album will be released on October 3rd, and the new single “Backwards” will be available for pre-order today.
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Photo by LauraCrosta New York-based singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata will release her fifth studio album, “Starlit Alchemy,” her first in nearly 10 years, on October 3, 2025, under the label Julian. Yamagata has announced that she will release her new album, “Backwards,” on Julian Records. This is the most intentional and cinematic work of her career, showcasing dreamy ambient textures, lush band arrangements, and the warmth of her home studio. Unlike her previous albums, this work is not a diary, but rather a record of transformation, touching listeners deeply. The album opens with the new song “Backwards,” released today. This track is a long-time project by Yamagata, originally written for a musical. This time, it has been reconstructed as a quiet “statement,” expressing the sadness of “changing oneself” and “letting go of the past.” Rachael Yamagata – Backwards (Official Audio) https://img.youtube.com/vi/eTrIXnAkdzw/sddefault.jpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTrIXnAkdzw She said: “There’s this feeling of, ‘I’ve already started running, but I’m still hoping someone will catch up and join me.’ That tension is painful.” Yamagata further said the following in an interview with American media outlet FLOOD Magazine: “‘Backwards’ is the pain of knowing you’ve already begun a new journey and can’t turn back and wait for someone. It’s filled with bittersweet anticipation of what’s to come and the realization that you have to leave behind.” Yamagata has released his new album, “Starlit With Starlit Alchemy, she returns not as the torch diva or heartbreak narrator she once was, but as a guide for transformation—letting go, naming pain, and reaching for something bigger. The songs on this album capture that moment of emergence. A soul-stirring, cinematic journey through grief, acceptance, recovery, and liberation, at once stormy and healing, Starlit Alchemy soars from the cavern to the stars, weaving galactic guidance into the human experience, a soundtrack for self-exploration and mystical rebirth. “Starlit Alchemy” marks Yamagata’s first release in nine years since 2016’s “Tightrope Walker,” and marks her 13th year as a self-managed artist, with her work taking full control. The album was produced both before 2020 and during the pandemic, funded by her own international tours, and recorded largely in her home studio in the Catskill Mountains. Born to a Japanese father and an American mother, and true to her name, “Yama” (mountain), Yamagata has described this album as a process of self-transformation, like “climbing a mountain.” Rachael Yamagata – Birds (Official Lyric Video)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEheePc1N3w Starlit Alchemy isn’t a collection of singles or an algorithmic playlist; it’s what Yamagata calls a “deep-dive record,” meant to be listened to in its entirety. “I wanted to make an album where one song flows into the next from the very beginning,” she says. “The songs were born from an impulse to simply express what I experienced and saw. I later realized they formed a more coherent narrative. It’s like a map made after the journey, not before. But it’s all there.” The story is one of personal loss and universal rediscovery, shaped over years of restructuring and creative challenge. “It started out as a stream-of-consciousness record, with the first demos recorded with interludes, like little movie soundtracks playing continuously.” Though it deals with heavy subject matter, the experience is never oppressive. “Starlit Alchemy” is about evolving through pain, not avoiding it. “It’s a reckoning between trauma and beauty, and the bittersweet nature of both existing simultaneously. Fear, loss and grief are major themes, but the magic that occurs when you fully immerse yourself in the experience is where the alchemy begins. Power is forged in surrender and the old self is shed,” she says of the sound. “Imagine Tom Waits as Willy Wonka, Ricki Lee Jones as Dorothy, and a soundscape helmed by Hans Zimmer and Joni Mitchell (‘Both Sides Now’ era). Bear with me, though, as I’m not an expert on that sort of thing.” About Rachael Yamagata Rachael Yamagata made a stunning debut with her 2004 debut album, “Happenstance,” and has since continued to release sensitive yet powerful works, including “Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart,” “Chesapeake,” and “Tightrope Walker.” Her unique voice and candid lyrics continue to captivate many fans, and while she has collaborated with a wide variety of artists, including Liz Phair, Toots and the Maytals, Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams, and Bright Eyes, she has always carved out her own path outside the major label system. Release information Rachael Yamagata New single “Backwards” now available Label: Julian Records Distribution link: https://orcd.co/rybackwards
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/55377/1447/55377-1447-5a96ef8f9e9a49581c2e5b201f1bb8ab-1500×1500.jpg Rachael Yamagata New Album “Starlit Alchemy” Release Date: October 3, 2025 Label: Julian Records Distribution link:
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