Joy Ride has 2 original Japanese songs and 4 Japanese versions of songs from his first full album The Story. Daniel chose the 4 other remakes based on what would be a good match for “Joy Ride”. Since this is a debut EP for Japan, he wanted to make it as bright as possible as an album that would go well with driving.^{[s] [s]}

“Joy Ride” is a song that expresses youth full of bright energy. Daniel finds it easy to listen to in a very comfortable way with its relaxing melody. He thinks it’s perfect when traveling and had listened to it on the Shinkansen when traveling from Osaka.^[s]

Working on “Hush Hush” with MIYAVI led to Daniel wanting to work in Japan, which resulted in their next collaboration. “TPIR” features MIYAVI and had lyrics helmed by RiRia. Back in April 2022, RiRia was connected with MIYAVI at 88rising’s party at Coachella. Weeks later, they were working on writing the song together. The demo was recorded back in May 2022.^{[s] [s]} “TPIR” is short for “The Pain isn’t Real” and is a song about how no matter how difficult things have been, remembering that the painful times aren’t the end.^{[s] [s]} Based on thetv interview, the collaboration with MIYAVI was done through Zoom.

Daniel commented in a TikTok live that the “Upside Down” Japanese version was not difficult to record because it is always fun and joyful. The freestyle aspects of the song allowed for him to express his natural self more.^[s]

The “Loser” Japanese version was completed at the right time when CHANMINA happened to be working at the KONNECT recording studio. Daniel was looking for a featuring artist and asked her to help, which she quickly agreed to. Daniel said her featuring brings a different charm with more freestyle vocals that blend well with his voice and makes the song richer and fuller. Daniel told Kstyle he thinks the sadness is more prominent. In his Numero interview, Daniel said that sometimes his worries give birth to ideas, and he takes that positively. “Loser” is a song that is dark rather than bright, but he personally really likes it and included it in the EP because it’s a good song. He continued, “It’s a song that contains memories from my childhood, and the hook part has a slightly drunken nuance. Now that I’m an adult, I made it while looking back on my childhood as a good memory.”

Daniel said the “Ride 4 U” Japanese version sounds a little warmer. There are many soft pronunciations in Japanese, so the song gives a softer feeling.^[s]

“1000x” is a fan song, and Daniel thinks there’s a deep and soulful feeling when singing in Japanese.^[s]

Daniel improved his pronunciation thanks to an A&R staff member who speaks Japanese well. He also learned a lot from Warner Japan staff and is studying diligently.