Songs were born as if by a “miracle,” inviting the next miracle in their wake — the collaborative EP Enmeishu by 4s4ki and DÉ DÉ MOUSE feels like a work that digs into the depths of each of their hearts. As they created together, their viewpoints and emotions overlapped. From their conversation, we unravel the words and sounds that emerged from that intersection.
―― To begin, what set this EP in motion? How did the project start?
4s4ki: It started when I made a track called “Psychic Elementary Schooler” together with DÉ DÉ. That was for the EP we released exactly a year ago, “Shūgōtai Daisukibyō / Collective Obsession.” When we finished it, we were like, “This song is so good!” From there, we said, “Let’s make more together,” and creating “Eternal Resolve” was the next step.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: Around last June, there was “Sasakure Fest,” right? The 20th-anniversary event. Both 4s4ki and I performed there, and that’s when we first really talked. It naturally led to, “Let’s do something together.”
So we went into the studio, and 4s4ki suddenly threw out this killer phrase, “Psychic Elementary Schooler.” The motif I was working on at the time basically became that very title, and the song came together.
4s4ki: Besides “Psychic Elementary Schooler,” we also made several fragmentary motifs together, and DÉ DÉ kept expanding them.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: In my mind, 4s4ki’s image has always been “white, transparent, immaculate.” That sense of “girlhood,” you know… I felt it very strongly. I kept thinking, “Is there a way to express that in sound?”
So around last summer I made a track called “Eternal Resolve” and sent it over, and it turned into a song in a way that truly felt like a miracle.
4s4ki: It really was a miracle. Everything clicked into place, and when it was done I thought, “Does this kind of thing even happen?”
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: At that point, there was no talk of an EP yet. I was thinking of releasing it as a single. But as I started moving to make a proper music video, time slipped by.
Then Kussy from <SASAKRECT> asked, “When are you releasing this?” I said, “Well, I’m still torn about the MV…” and he replied, “Then, would it be okay if we move things forward on our side?” After that, the manager said, “Let’s make it an EP!” and the baton was passed to 4s4ki’s side.
4s4ki: Right. I think that was around the New Year. That’s when the EP production really kicked in, and the MV for “Eternal Resolve” was just released yesterday (October 1).
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: I’d had “white” in mind from the very beginning, so seeing the MV end up pure white was deeply satisfying. It was exactly what I envisioned — perfect.
―― What were your first impressions of each other? And did anything change once you actually talked?
4s4ki: DÉ DÉ is more “boyish” than me!
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: No, no. At first I thought she’d be edgier and sharper. But once we talked, I felt this strong “girlish” vibe.
I’ve said this before, but there was this mysterious moment where I passionately rambled, one-sidedly, about “the innocence of 4s4ki.” The only phrase that came to mind was “the innocence of girlhood.”
4s4ki: Aw, that makes me happy! But it’s a little embarrassing, too (laughs).
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: People tend to imagine “light” and “darkness” as opposites on a spectrum. But with 4s4ki, it feels like all of that coexists layered together.
The good and the bad all exist within her as one. That’s why she feels “pure.” Kids do both good and bad without hesitation, and there’s a kind of true purity in that. I feel like 4s4ki has that in a powerful way.
4s4ki: I’m really happy you see me that way. If possible, I’d like to stay like that.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: Part of me doesn’t want her to become a “grown-up” who seems to have it all figured out. Because I feel like all of 4s4ki’s lyrics are, in a way, her bare face.
4s4ki: True. I might actually be bad at putting on a cool front. Most of my lyrics are basically my personal diary, so what I’m thinking just comes out as it is.
―― Beyond “Eternal Resolve,” tell us about the flow of making the other tracks or anything that left an impression.
4s4ki: The process was basically the same for the other three songs: first DÉ DÉ made the track, then I added lyrics and melody, and then it went back to DÉ DÉ again.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: For “Shaped by Anxiety” and “You’re Zeus,” I sent the tracks first, and then 4s4ki would come back with requests like, “I want this part like this,” and we passed it back and forth like a relay. With those three songs, nothing ever got stuck — it all went incredibly smoothly.
4s4ki: But the remaining song, “Transparent Person,” followed a slightly different process.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: Right. “Transparent Person” was originally an unreleased song that 4s4ki had already been performing live. She gave me that motif, and it was just so good. At first I even thought, “Maybe I don’t need to touch this?”
But I felt that if we added a bit of drama through the repeated chords and development — changing the chords, adding strings, making the beat extremely intricate— it could go deeper. And then another miracle happened.
4s4ki: It became a completely different song. I honestly thought, “Do miracles really happen this many times?”
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: I think of it as an answer song to “Eternal Resolve.” Starting with “Eternal Resolve” and ending with “Transparent Person” felt so right to me. The title is wonderful, too.
4s4ki: At first, I wondered if I should change the lyrics of “Transparent Person” a bit. But DÉ DÉ told me, “It’s better to leave it abstract,” and that gave me a lot of confidence. In the end, we released it with the lyrics as they were.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: With the other three songs, I feel like they lean more toward “inner feelings,” but “Transparent Person” is “a scene.” In my mind I see something like a winter morning beach: we’ve lazed around until late at night, and when it’s almost morning we say, “Want to go look at the ocean?” Shivering in the cold — that kind of scene.
4s4ki: DÉ DÉ talked about that so passionately (laughs). Hearing it made me think, “Oh, then I don’t need to overthink this.” My anxieties about changing the lyrics disappeared, and it gave me confidence.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: It reminded me again that she’s someone who can “paint a scene with poetry.”
―― As you worked from that trusting relationship, why did you ultimately choose the title “Enmeishu”?
4s4ki: While I was writing “Shaped by Anxiety,” I wasn’t in a great mental state. There’s a line in the lyrics, “My heart won’t move, I drink at home every day,” and that’s how much alcohol saved me then. So I chose “Enmeishu,” meaning “a drink that preserves life.”
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: “Shaped by Anxiety” is one of my absolute favorites because MON/KU’s soundscape is incredible. And the word “Enmeishu” itself — it’s so sharp and striking. The word “enmei” (“life extension”) carries a hint of inertia; that edge felt really good to me.
4s4ki: Thank you. I love the title too.
―― For each of you, where do you feel your individuality most came through in the making of this EP?
4s4ki: Definitely “Transparent Person.” I had originally made the track myself, and DÉ DÉ added his arrangement. I was like, “Ah, so this is ‘DÉ DÉ-ness’!” The way the sections unfold and the feeling of morphing into a genre I’ve never heard before — it was so much fun.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: When I got the motif, the sound was so good it floored me. I even wondered at first, “Is there a beatmaker involved?” But when she said she’d made it all herself, I thought, “You should absolutely do more of this.”
4s4ki: I’m truly happy to hear that.
―― Tell us about your musical roots. What first got you into making music, or who influenced you?
4s4ki: Honestly, there wasn’t a specific person who sparked it for me… I just naturally started making music. I took Electone lessons from around age three, but I was terrible at reading sheet music (laughs). I could only play by ear.
So when I played by ear, it drifted away from the score and I’d start adding my own arrangements. From the teacher’s perspective, I was probably a bad student… But I loved it. I didn’t even think of it as “composing” — I’d just keep playing and songs would appear. After I started DTM in high school, “playing = making songs” simply became everyday life.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: That’s amazing… In my case, the initial spark was probably anime. As a kid I loved memorizing and singing the openings and endings — like “Get Wild,” the ending of City Hunter by TM NETWORK. I got hooked, and from then on the idea of “the sound of the city = synthesizers” stuck with me.
In middle school, while the boys around me were listening to band music like X Japan, I was the only one drawn to the world of synths. Little by little, with a desperate kind of motivation, I dove in: “I might not be popular, but maybe music can make me stand out,” and “Even if I’m a hopeless person, expression could make me a star.”
―― What do you think fuels you to keep creating?
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: In the end, I escaped into music because “normal life” felt so suffocating, and then I found myself crushed by the struggles of expression while still pushing forward. There’s that contradiction. When one song hits, the pressure of “I have to top this next time” is intense. Sometimes I get so anxious at night I can’t sleep.
4s4ki: I relate so much. Nights are the hardest for me too. The moment I close my eyes to sleep, anxiety rushes in, and it feels like I’ll never sleep.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: But the way 4s4ki can turn that anxiety straight into lyrics is incredible. Listeners realizing, “Oh, it’s not just me,” can be a huge relief.
4s4ki: I’m the opposite — I can’t really put on a front. Everything I think just comes out. But if that can make someone feel a little lighter, I’m really happy.
―― For someone hearing the EP for the first time, which track would you recommend they start with?
4s4ki: “Eternal Resolve,” definitely. That was the first miracle, so I’m especially attached to it.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE: Same for me — “Eternal Resolve” is essential. But I feel just as strongly about “Transparent Person.” The first and the last — the two answer each other and close into a circle. If people listen to both, I’ll be truly happy.
Why do they make music?
Tracing the dialogue between 4s4ki and DÉ DÉ MOUSE reveals that it was a choice “to live,” and the music became something that gently touches someone’s heart. Enmeishu is a quiet record of dialogue, born from the blending of two lives and two emotional worlds.
[Release Information]
4s4ki × DÉ DÉ MOUSE Enmeishu
Label: VLLV
DL/Streaming : https://linkco.re/HhgYv33D
Tracklist:
1. Eternal Resolve
2. Shaped by Anxiety
3. You’re Zeus
4. Transparent Person
[One-Man Tour Information]
＜Tour Title＞
4s4ki Solo Journey 2025 “Enmeishu”
Date: 2025.11.7 (Fri)
Venue: Fukuoka The Voodoo Lounge
Doors 18:00 / Show 19:00
Date: 2025.11.14 (Fri)
Venue: Osaka 246 LIVEHOUSE GABU
Doors 18:00 / Show 19:00
Date: 2025.11.24 (Mon, Holiday)
Venue: Aichi Nagoya RAD HALL
Doors 17:00 / Show 18:00
Date: 2025.11.29 (Sat)
Venue: Tokyo Shibuya WOMB LIVE
Doors 17:00 / Show 17:30
Opening DJ: DÉ DÉ MOUSE & MON/KU
[Tickets] *Available only via e+ (e-plus).
Advance ¥5,500 +1D / Door ¥6,500 +1D (first-come general sale)
On sale: https://eplus.jp/4s4ki/