Stray Sheep

Stray Sheep (stylized in all caps) is the fifth album by Kenshi Yonezu, released on August 5, 2020.^[1][2][3] The song "Kanden" has been used as the theme song of the comedy TV series MIU404.^[4] The album sold over 879,000 copies in its first week, debuting atop the Oricon Albums Chart.^[5] It was the top selling album of 2020 in Japan according to both Billboard Japan^[6] and Oricon. The latter calculated that the album had sold 1,970,930 copies in Japan by the end of 2020, summarizing CDs, vinyls, downloads, and streaming equivalents.^[7]

Stray Sheep
Studio album by Kenshi Yonezu
Released	August 5, 2020 (2020-08-05)
Genre	J-pop
Length	59:26
Label	Sony Japan
Producer	Kenshi Yonezu
Kenshi Yonezu chronology
Bootleg (2017) Stray Sheep (2020) Lost Corner (2024)
Singles from Stray Sheep
"Lemon" Released: March 14, 2018 "Flamingo/Teenage Riot" Released: October 31, 2018 "Spirits of the Sea" Released: June 3, 2019 "Uma to Shika" Released: September 11, 2019 "Paprika" Released: February 3, 2020 "Kanden" Released: July 6, 2020

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Stray Sheep was the world's third-best-selling album of 2020, with 2.54 million sales worldwide.^[8]

Release

The album was released digitally worldwide on August 5, 2020. It was available on physical formats in South Korea and Taiwan on October 16, 2020.^[9]

Singles

"Lemon" is the first single of the album and was released on February 27, 2018. It served as the theme song for the TBS television drama Unnatural.^[10] The song, "Spirits of the Sea", was used for the animated film Children of the Sea.^[10] The theme song, "Uma to Shika" is used for the TBS television drama No Side Manager.^[11] "Paprika" is the representative song for 2020 Summer Olympics.^[12]

Commercial performance

The song "Kanden" was released on YouTube on July 10, 2020, and reached 10 million views in four days, breaking Yonezu's own record.^[13] The studio album has sold one million copies within 10 days.^[14] Besides, the album hit number one under the J-Pop category in over 30 countries in iTunes Chart and hit number one in 54 countries under the J-Pop Apple Music Albums Chart. And the topped 20 All Genres category in 22 Countries/Regions, 6 of which hit Number one.^[15][16]

Track listing

Stray Sheep track listing^[17][18]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Campanella" (カムパネルラ "Bell")	3:55
2.	"Flamingo"	3:16
3.	"Kanden" (感電 "Electric Shock")	4:24
4.	"Placebo" (featuring Yojiro Noda)	4:00
5.	"Paprika" (パプリカ)	3:22
6.	"Uma to Shika" (馬と鹿 "Horse and Deer")	4:25
7.	"Yasashii Hito" (優しい人 "Kind Person")	3:28
8.	"Lemon"	4:15
9.	"Machigai Sagashi" (まちがいさがし "Spot the Difference"; rearrangement)	4:27
10.	"Himawari" (ひまわり "Sunflower")	4:02
11.	"Stray Sheep" (迷える羊)	3:46
12.	"Décolleté"	3:29
13.	"Teenage Riot"	3:45
14.	"Spirits of the Sea" (海の幽霊)	3:54
15.	"Canary" (カナリヤ)	4:58
Total length:		59:26

All tracks are written by Kenshi Yonezu.

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance of Stray Sheep Chart (2020) Peak position Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[19] 1 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[20] 1

Year-end charts 2020 year-end chart performance of Stray Sheep Chart (2020) Position Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[6] 1 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[21] 1 2021 year-end chart performance of Stray Sheep Chart (2021) Position Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[22] 11 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[23] 37 2022 year-end chart performance for Stray Sheep Chart (2022) Position Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[24] 72

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[25]	Million	1,000,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[26] digital sales	Gold	185,000[27][28]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	2,540,000[29]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.