ACO is a Japanese singer specializing in a wide range of genres. Her early … Read Full Bio ↴ACO is a Japanese singer specializing in a wide range of genres. Her early albums focused on jazzy pop and R&B, while the middle part of her career expanded her sound into trip-hop, minimalist electronica, and synthpop. More recently, she has explored an alt-rock style. She was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1977, and she released her breakthrough single Fuan Nano (不安なの) in 1995. The song, done in a summery pop style, was a moderate success and her debut album, Kittenish Love followed soon after in early 1996.

By the end of the year, ACO was back in the studio recording her second album, NUDE, which was released exactly a year after her debut. The album picked up where her debut left off, continuing with the jazz-pop style she was known for. The best-known single from this era was DROP, which combined hip-hop elements with ACO's leisurely vocals. By 1998, ACO had begun moving away from the predominately upbeat sound that launched her career, introducing some darker and more dramatic elements into the mix for her third album, Lady Soul. The album spawned the singles CATWALK and Yawarakai Hada (やわらかい肌), which did little to reflect this creeping style change.

In the winter of 1999, ACO released Absolute Ego, her fourth album and the work that many see as the turning point in her career. No longer singing the songs of a teenage pop idol, ACO introduced trip-hop and electronica elements into her style and began experimenting with her vocals as well. Critical response to the album was overwhelmingly positive. Absolute Ego produced four singles, among them SPLEEN and Yorokobi Ni Saku Hana (悦びに咲く花). A remix album, titled The Other Side Of Absolute Ego, followed in early 2000. It featured collaborations with the likes of DJ Krush (whom ACO collaborated with on his own Tragicomic), Tricky, and Yoshinori Sunahara. A live DVD called Absolute Live was also released.

In 2001, ACO presented her fifth studio album, Material. This album moved even further into her new electronica style, and contains some of her darkest music to date. Singles released included Hoshi No Kuzu (星ノクズ), which featured an Alice In Wonderland-styled PV, and 4gatsu No Hero (４月のヒーロー). The album also included a haunting cover of This Woman's Work by Kate Bush.

ACO's sixth album, irony, followed in 2003. Collaborating with Icelandic electronica band múm and avant-garde artists portable[k]ommunity, the album explored minimalist electronica through the use of layered vocals and delicate microbeats. The album drew comparisons to Vespertine by Björk and produced one solitary single, titled Machi (町).

A new mini-album, Mask, was released in early 2006. It explores a neo-electroclash sound, including a brash recut of Fuan Nano to mark the song's tenth anniversary. During this time, she collaborated with Taeji Sawai and his band Golden Pink Arrow. The songs, which are available through Sawai's website (www.taeji.org), have not yet seen a commercial release. In 2007, she released her first greatest hits album, ACO BEST ~Girl's Diary~, a two-disc compilation featuring all her singles from 1995-2006.

In 2010, ACO returned with Devil's Hands, her first new release since ending her short hiatus. In yet another genre shift, it departs from the electropop of Mask to focus on pop-rock and soft ballads. The moody and piano-driven LUCK followed in 2012, followed by a live album and a collection of self-covers in a new "unplugged" style, TRAD.

Valentine was released in 2015 and marked another sea change in ACO's style, giving her a fuzzy alt-rock sound with raspy vocals. A covers EP in this mode, Sing Sing Sing, followed in 2019.

涙ボトル
ACO Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

覚えたばかりのあの人の歌を
繰り返しながら
夜の星を1つみつけながら
うんざりした
恋の幻にだまされたこの時
海よりも大きく泣いてしまえ!!
涙ボトルの中にあふれだした
誰よりも素直な優しいキモチと

深まってく愛しさ全ての感情で
あなたの全てを許してしまえ
こぼれだす私から...
こぼれだす私から...

おぼれる言葉を体中に
いい聞かせながら
水に溶けだした悲しみそっと
抱きしめたら

この胸に消えてく最後の贈り物
海よりも大きく泣いてしまえ!!
涙ボトルの中にあふれだした
誰よりも素直な優しいキモチと
深まってく愛しさ全ての感情で
あなたの全てを許してしまえ
こぼれだす私から...

こぼれだす私から...
こぼれだす私から...

Overall Meaning

These lyrics are from the song "涙ボトル" (Namida Botoru) by ACO. The song talks about the feelings of being deceived by a love illusion and the overwhelming sadness that follows. The singer finds themselves listening to a song by someone they recently got to know, repeatedly, while looking at the night stars. However, they become frustrated and overwhelmed by the illusion of love. At that moment, they decide to cry even harder than the ocean itself. The tears overflow from the bottle, representing their overflowing emotions. The singer then expresses their genuine and kind feelings, the deepening love, and the willingness to forgive everything about the person they're singing to. It's a declaration of pouring out themselves, their emotions, and their forgiveness.

Line by Line Meaning

覚えたばかりのあの人の歌を繰り返しながら
While repeating the song of that person I just learned

夜の星を1つみつけながらうんざりした
I became frustrated while finding a single star in the night

恋の幻にだまされたこの時
At this moment, I was deceived by the illusion of love

海よりも大きく泣いてしまえ!!
Cry bigger than the sea!!

涙ボトルの中にあふれだした
Overflowing in the bottle of tears

誰よりも素直な優しいキモチと
With feelings that are more honest and kind than anyone else

深まってく愛しさ全ての感情で
Deepening love with all emotions

あなたの全てを許してしまえ
Forgive all of you

こぼれだす私から...
Overflowing from me...

おぼれる言葉を体中にいい聞かせながら
While telling myself drowning words throughout my body

水に溶けだした悲しみそっと抱きしめたら
When I gently embrace the sadness that melted into the water