It's been revealed that singer Matsuda Seiko (49) will be collaborating with singer-songwriter Takeuchi Mariya (56) for the first time!

This collaboration will be for Matsuda's new single, "Tokubetsu na Koibito", which will be released on November 23rd. As April 2010 marked the 30th year anniversary of Matsuda's career, she approached Takeuchi for a collaboration. Takeuchi will be providing the lyrics, composition, and production for the song.

The two started working together in July of last year, when Takeuchi visited Matsuda at her 30th anniversary live at Nippon Budokan. After the show, the two met backstage, and immediately hit it off. Takeuchi, who has already reached her 30th anniversary back in November 2008, gifted Matsuda a mature love song in celebration of her anniversary.

Takeuchi explained, "I wrote this 'mature love song' with all my heart, as something I want the current Seiko-san to sing. I feel that the root of her abundant expressiveness is the combination of her voice and personality within her mysterious charm." She also showed her confidence saying, "Seiko-san's charming candy voice will surely deliver a new thrill to everyone."

Meanwhile, Matsuda expressed, "It's a beautiful song overflowing with Mariya-san's unique outlook of the world. When I sang it during the recording, my heart was full."

This will be Matsuda's first time in 26 years to have a female artist provide lyrics and a melody for her single. To coincide with this new release, Matsuda will hold her annual Christmas dinner show starting November 22nd, with a total of 27 performances in 12 locations. She is also scheduled to hold a New Year's Eve live at Tokyo Gymnasium.

Source + Photo: Oricon