After exploring ‘Casket Girl’, we’re rewinding to ‘I Need U Back’, the fourth visual from Fujii Kaze’s all-English album Prema.
Fujii Kaze turns burnout into a glittering carnival with “I Need U Back,” staging his creative resurrection as pure New Romantic theatre.
Released in October 2025, director Nina McNeely transforms a three-minute plea into a surreal parade that smashes Bowie’s Berlin period against Janet Jackson’s Control-era sheen, filtered through Kaze’s hunt for the passion he lost between albums.
The visual opens on sun-bleached plains where Kaze rocks metallic eye paint and androgynous silhouettes straight from late-70s art-rock fever dreams.
Lead actor Clarys guides him through a procession of punks, goths, disco suits, and noir trench coats, each frame radiating MTV’s golden age controlled chaos.
Stylist Matthew Josephs pulls directly from New Romantic icons and 80s divas, even sneaking in ethical fashion touches like vegan footwear that anchor the extravagance in Kaze’s personal values without broadcasting it.
McNeely strips the concept bare: Kaze felt his fire dying before making Prema. The video becomes a visual hunt for that missing spark, transforming yearning into spectacle through choreographed bodies twisting in unison, faces painted gold and silver, movement as prayer.
This reads less like confession and more like exorcism performed in platform boots and glitter. The track itself honours Minneapolis Sound DNA through Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis production worship.
Producer 250 keeps the mix crisp with a four-on-the-floor pulse, layered synth strings courtesy of Breakbot, and a buoyant groove that refuses stillness.
Kaze sounds more conversational in English than on his Japanese releases, trading elaborate phrasing for direct emotional punches.
The chorus locks into mantra mode, repeating “I need you back” until the plea strips down to its rawest form. Shy Carter’s background vocals add texture without cluttering the desperation.
Here’s the twist: that “you” isn’t romantic longing. Kaze confirms he’s begging for his own passion back, the energetic version of himself before the industry ground him down.
Lines like “go back to those brighter days” and “I learned a lot, baby” suggest someone reaching for an older self while carrying new wisdom.
The video toys with time deliberately, shifting from Western landscapes to synchronised dance sequences that could exist anywhere between 1973 and 1989. Nostalgia operates as mood rather than specific moment, a feeling Kaze wants to reclaim.
McNeely’s behind-the-scenes footage reveals how meticulously the team constructed this carnival atmosphere, right down to lighting choices that make every close-up glow like film stock from another dimension.
The diverse cast celebrates self-expression across gender, ethnicity, and style, reading as permission: wear makeup as art, dress how you feel, be whoever you need to be.
The video drops mid-tour during Kaze’s North American run, following visuals for “Love Like This,” “Hachikō,” and the Prema title track.
Each clip expands his aesthetic range, but “I Need U Back” commits hardest to theatrical excess, a full embrace of glitter and movement that announces exactly who Kaze wants to become while rebuilding his creative fire in public view.
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