Meet HINABI, the Singer Who Still Believes in True Love, and Means It

The award-winning power vocalist and author and her band, HINA.BAND, are making VOL II: KURATA, a record about lasting love, the slow way

LONDON, Oct. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- HINABI, the award-winning power vocalist and author, believes in true love, and she is not saying it for effect. VOL II: KURATA, her unreleased cinematic pop-rock record with her band, HINA.BAND, starts rolling out very soon.

Meet HINABI

The people around her keep coming back to the same word: genuine. You see it the moment you meet her, in that iconic smile. There is no act and no pretension. She does not treat love as a theme for a record or a line for an interview. She believes in it, plainly, and says so without irony, in a culture that often finds that a little embarrassing.

That is usually the first thing people notice about her, and it is why they are drawn to her before they have heard a note. Her public manner is bright, bubbly and quick to laugh. When the conversation turns to love, she becomes serious, and she means every word.

True love in a swipe culture

Dating has never offered more choice. Another match is always a swipe away, another conversation can start before the last one has been properly understood, and it is easy to start treating people as options. HINABI takes the other side. At the heart of her record is an unapologetic belief that true love is something two people build together, by staying, putting in the work and seeing what grows.

Her version of romance is practical. She does not believe in a perfect person who arrives and makes everything easy. People come to love already shaped by childhood, old relationships, disappointment and fear, and meeting someone does not make any of that disappear. It brings it to the surface. For HINABI, finding someone is the romantic part. Staying together is the work, and the work is the point.

That is also why she believes true love is worth the wait. Something real can take longer to build than it took to recognise.

A voice you would listen to for hours

She does not keep these beliefs to herself, and people listen when she talks about them. When HINABI speaks or narrates her views on love, her voice has a distinct, recognisable sultriness. It is the kind of voice you could listen to for a four-hour drive of podcast episodes. One fan called her "the female Morgan Freeman of True Love."

That speaking voice only teases her lower octaves. Her singing voice is a different surprise. Her upcoming winter song, RENEGADE, showcases one of the most dynamic vocal ranges you will hear. The distance between the low, close voice of her narration and the top of that range is a large part of what makes the record worth hearing. For anyone who knows her from the way she talks about love, hearing where that voice goes when she sings is when the record starts to make sense.

Her words, her sound

HINABI writes the lyrics, the melodies and the foundational sound of VOL II: KURATA. She is the heart and soul of the record. It is her sound, and she asked her band to build theirs around it.

"There's a highly demanding ask for the HINA.BAND. Our language is music and so I asked them to show me their music and build their sound within HINABI. Make the music where my voice can be beautifully engulfed in."

— HINABI

Made slowly, on purpose

At a time when one song can be pushed out in five minutes with AI, HINABI and HINA.BAND are going the other way. They are intentional, diving deep into the creative process and into the emotions behind everything HINABI writes. Songs are developed, taken apart and developed again until the music says what the words mean.

They are not trying to prove anything. For a singer with an award already attached to her name, HINABI has been in no hurry to put out music just to show that the voice exists. HINABI and HINA.BAND move like true love, as they should: steadily, patiently and with care. What they want to make is classic music that heals hearts.

Most of the lucky few who have heard previews of her demos say the same thing: they cried. That kind of visceral response is rare for any breakout artist, let alone one in no hurry to break out. HINABI is here to heal broken hearts, intently, and maybe, in the process, topple a billion-pound dating-app economy.

HINA.BAND, her rock

HINA.BAND is HINABI's rock, and in this band, rock really is rock. Drummer and band leader Dylan Youles and bassist Krzysztof "Kaye" Syposz are steady pillars for her, and both see their job as serving her music.

"I'm bringing my experience, professionalism and creative understanding to this project to create a backdrop and atmosphere that allows HINABI to create VOL II: KURATA. It's about building an environment that complements the artist's vision and allows her story, emotions and message to come through authentically.

"Every detail is carefully considered to ensure the musical choices support her expression and help translate her personal journey into something the audience can truly connect with," says Youles, who is always endearingly referred to as "BAND LEADAAAH" by HINABI.

The record is produced by DK (Do Hyun Kim), with post-production and mastering by Stephen DeAcutis (Stevie D).

For Syposz, after years of session work, HINA.BAND feels different.

"Being a session musician for years has been cool, but it's usually at the command and direction of someone else and what they're looking for," he says.

"HINABI is cool!" notes the "PRETTY BOY" of the band, so called because HINABI says his sound is always "devastatingly pretty."

"It is amazing to be part of a 'band' again rather than a gun for hire, as creating and crafting the whole song is so much deeper, because it's your own and not 'for someone else'.

"I am happy to be taking full ownership of and really crafting a unique sound."

Until the music arrives

For now, HINABI shares her thoughts on love on Instagram at @hinabimusic and @volii.kurata. For her community, whom she also calls HINABI, the invitation is to go back to basics and believe that true love really exists, and that it is worth the wait.

About HINABI

HINABI is an award-winning power vocalist and author. Her cinematic pop-rock record VOL II: KURATA, made with her band HINA.BAND, is unreleased.

Media contact: HINABI press, press@themoove.co