The album "12" by composer legend, producer and pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto is a collection of 12 compositions for synthesizer and piano. The Grammy-, Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning composer selected the pieces from musical sketches he recorded like a sound diary during his two-and-a-half-year battle with cancer. Each piece is an intimate snapshot from that difficult period in his life and bears as its title the date it was written. "12" was the first solo album by the composer, who has been a global style influencer with his electronic-acoustic genre transgressions, since the 2017 album "async." About the album, Ryhichi Sakamoto said, "After finally 'coming home' to my new temporary housing after a major surgery, I picked up the synthesizer. I had no intention of composing anything; I just wanted to be flooded with sounds. I will probably continue to keep this kind of 'diary'".