Formed in 1995, My Little Lover is a Japanese pop rock/soft rock group led by vocalist Akko (Akamatsu Akiko) and guitarist Fujii Kenji who were soon joined by singer/songwriter Takeshi Kobayashi. The group swiftly gained national recognition, becoming synonymous with the late-'90s J-pop sound. My Little Lover's debut album, Evergreen (1995), propelled them to Top 10 status on Japan's Oricon charts thanks to hit single "Hello Again" which climbed to the top of the charts. The group followed this with "Yes (Free Flower)” (1996), which enjoyed similar success, building anticipation for their second album, Presents (1998) which became known for its uplifting and pop-oriented sound. Within six months, they unveiled the more mature-sounding New Adventure. In 2001, My Little Lover's musical direction shifted towards ballads with the release of Topics seeing a decline in chart performance. The year 2002 saw the release of acoustic best-of album Organic, as well as the departure of Fujii from the group. The following year marked their inaugural tour, followed by the release of the album Fantasy in 2004. This period marked a transition for My Little Lover, as they parted ways with Kobayashi with Akko continuing her musical journey as a solo artist under the My Little Lover name, resurfacing in 2006 with the album Akko, followed by Identity (アイデンティティー, Aidentiti) (2008), Sora no Shirushi (そらのしるし, Sky Symbol) (2009), Acoakko Debut (2010) and re:evergreen (2015). Despite My Little Lover’s strong legacy, these albums struggled to match their earlier chart success with only sporadic appearances in the Top 40. In 2017, My Little Lover re-released “My Little Lover” - Acoakko version.
