“There was a period in m-flo’s history when we were a ‘tripod’—LISA, VERBAL and myself,” DJ/producer Taku Takahashi tells Apple Music. “After that, during LISA’s absence, we entered the ‘loves’ era, which led to a new form of collaboration. This time, we thought it would be interesting to bring those two parallel worlds together.” SUPERLIMINAL, m-flo’s 10th original album, marks the 25th anniversary of the group’s debut. Known for blending hip-hop, R&B and a broad spectrum of club styles into their music, m-flo once again lean into the sci-fi-inspired concept that has unified the group’s richly diverse musicality into a consistent sound across its discography. “It’s been 25 years since we debuted on a major label,” VERBAL says. “We’ve all walked the same road, but there are so many layers in motion that our heads can be in different spaces, even when we’re in the same place. It can feel as though there are different versions of ourselves all existing beyond the boundaries of time and space—beyond the ‘liminal’. That’s why we ultimately settled on the title SUPERLIMINAL: it’s about crossing boundaries, about going beyond them altogether.” Reflecting on m-flo’s history of creating music within what can only be described as a delicate, almost surreal equilibrium, LISA adds: “I’m grateful to God, and to all our fans, for being able to keep making music for so long. More than anything, this 25th anniversary is about thanking the other members of the group who’ve continued to love and support me despite my comings and goings from the group.” Here the three members walk us through the tracks from the new album, which unites the guest-driven “loves” format with the original “tripod” lineup. m-flo loves chelmico, “RUN AWAYS” LISA: “VERBAL writes my raps for me, and since he knows me well and sees me clearly, what he writes feels incredibly real. During recording, reading his lyrics I nearly burst out laughing, thinking ‘That’s so me!’ chelmico are really talented rappers, and being in the middle of that I really wanted to hold my own. I worked hard on this track, and I genuinely love how it turned out.” m-flo, “You Got This” LISA: “There was a time when my health was so bad I honestly wasn’t sure I’d be able to go back to m-flo. But performing in Korea in 2024 was a turning point for me—I remember thinking, ‘Maybe I can do this. Maybe I can keep going.’ After that I started writing all sorts of songs, and this track in particular made me want to put my feelings into words. It ended up being a song that carries a message for everyone—and for myself—‘We can do this now. Now is the time.’” m-flo loves diggy-mo & Ryosuke Shinoda, “GateWay” Taku: “I’m a big fan of a band called Top Secret Man. They’re mainly a hardcore punk band, but they weave in elements of hyperpop as well. Personally, I think that there’s a real crossover between m-flo and hyperpop, so I reached out to their vocalist, Shino-chan (Shinoda). At the same time, I’ve been going through a real diggy-mo phase for the last four years—his voice is just one of a kind. I’d spoken to him quite a few times at festivals, but things never quite came together. This time though, he thankfully said yes, and even though his schedule is packed we managed to make it work remotely.” m-flo loves RIP SLYME, “ARIGATTO” VERBAL: “I met the members of RIP SLYME at different times, but surprisingly enough, the first one I met was SU. Then I ran into ILMARI at a dance party at my international school—we were in the same year—and then RYO-Z. We started going out to clubs, and just as we were talking about working on some songs together, NIGO got in touch. That was how [collab group] Teriyaki Boyz came about.” m-flo loves ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS!, “CHARANGA” VERBAL: “I’d been following ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS! for ages—they bring old household appliances back to life as electronic instruments. This track came about after I was invited to an event and suggested that we collaborate. If I remember rightly, that was the first time the three of us rapped together.” LISA: “Yeah. With Taku’s encouragement, I decided to try writing the lyrics myself. I had written for ‘ARIGATTO’ as well, and maybe it’s because I’ve spent so long watching VERBAL write that I was able to write these at all.” m-flo loves Sho Sakurai, “come again *Reloaded” VERBAL: “I met Sakurai before [his J-pop group] ARASHI had made their debut. He used to say, “I want to try writing some lyrics,” and we’d swap demos and listen to each other’s work. ARASHI got busy after that, but years later, in 2024, Sakurai happened to be hosting a programme that we were appearing on, so I invited him to jump in as a guest on this song. He had written some new lyrics at the time that were incredibly moving, and we talked about how great it would be to include them in an album. This time, we’ve finally managed to make that happen.”