NELKE

Overview

NELKE is a five-piece Japanese rock band. The name means "carnation" in German. Like petals gathering into a single strongly blooming flower, the music RIRIKO had built alone is reborn as one band (incarnation). To keep the space enjoyable for everyone, moshing and diving are prohibited at live shows.

Career

In 2023, vocalist and guitarist RIRIKO's band project "RIRIKO BAND" began. It started when RIRIKO, then working as a singer-songwriter, met Kei, who played as a support drummer and suggested that her songs would shine in a band format. Kei brought in Toshifumi Takeda and Shiori Matsumoto, and the four played together for about four months before guitarist Masakage Ito joined, making it a five-piece. RIRIKO felt the members understood her songs from the first studio session and discovered the joy of making music in a band.

In spring 2024, at the one-man show "Hana Zukan" in Shibuya, the band announced its new name, NELKE, with the lineup unchanged. In August 2024 it held its first one-man show in the current lineup at Shimokitazawa SHANGRI-LA, announced a LIQUIDROOM one-man show at the encore, and sold it out the following month.

In 2025 NELKE played JAPAN JAM, its first outdoor festival, and held a one-man tour at Umeda Club Quattro, Nagoya Club Quattro and Zepp Shinjuku. From autumn into winter came its first nationwide tour, "Diary." At the tour final at Zepp DiverCity in 2026, the band announced its major debut on Epic Record Japan, part of Sony Music Labels, and released the debut song "Bouquet" digitally on April 1.

Selected releases

They include "ロリポップサイダー (NELKE ver.)" (2020), "Incarnation," "PROLOGUE," "revital," "夏果て," "Believe in Breeze," the album "Paragraph" (March 2025), "ambivalence," "EPILOGUE" and "Continuum."

Musical style

NELKE is known for powerful vocals and a delicate yet dynamic band ensemble, built on rock with a variety of musical elements. Emotional melodies meet poetic lyrics. Live, RIRIKO's vocal power and the members' skilled playing create a unified performance.