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Östlich von Eden (East of Eden), stylized as ÖSTLICH VON EDEN, is the second studio album by Akitei-Alvak singer-songwriter Kiara Yoshikawa, known professionally as Ersatz. The album was released in May 2017. Ersatz collaborated with Ginseng, a close friend and fellow musician, for the album. Recording sessions for Östlich von Eden took place between late 2014 and January 2017 at the Engelholz Neu-Amden Studio in Neu-Amden, Viktoria.

Östlich von Eden is most known for its title track. It was used in the social media commercial for xxx phones starring Ersatz herself and released as a single in May 2016. The song became her first charting single, peaking at number three on the Alvak Ohrwurm chart with sales of 417,000 copies. The sudden popularity of the single prompted her to release the entire album in May 2017, gaining commercial success subsequently. It topped the Alvak albums chart for a week in October 2018, selling more than 220,000 units while entering the chart. In 2019, the song was featured on the television drama Wings starring Leon Vom Bruch. Following its featuring, it entered the top 10 on the chart again.

After the album came out, the song Hohe Ansprüche (ode to the band she formerly fronted) was issued as a single in November of the same year. It was featured as a theme song for the last season of the television drama Yes, That's Me starring and directed by Ole Hersch, aired on TV5 in December 2020.

Composition
Östlich von Eden is an indie-pop record with heavy influences from funk, disco, soul, rock, and R&B. The album starts off with Hohe Ansprüche (High Standards), a mid-tempo funk-rock combo with gritty vocals that deals with the high standards of the Alvak music industry while also being a recount of her time in the band of the same name. Stiefel Auf dem Boden, a fast-paced funk that swaps the gritty vocals of the last song for dreamy vocals, is a recount of Ersatz's time enlisted in the Alvak military. Flugzeug, as Ersatz described it, was "born out of a particularly odd dream I had one night after a flight from Kikyo". Camera Obscura bears a strong resemblance to the works of Thodoris Stavratos, a well-known musician in the 60s who produced and kickstarted the Alvak soul music scene. Wirbelwind returns to a faster-paced funk scene, with heavy usage of synthesizers and electric keyboards. Der Flieger was written in a week after Ersatz "binge-watched the first season of Wings in three days", and resembles an upbeat pop tune. Östlich von Eden takes influences from 80s Alvak, Kodeshi, Bakanese, and Akitei pop, and is described by Ersatz as "the climax to an 80s action movie that never was". Kaffeezeit is a fast-paced but simple funk track with few instruments, with the tune masquerading a caffeine high. Herr Briefträger takes inspiration from 60s pop music, most notably from Alvak band Die Käfer. 3:00 AM is reminiscent of the small Akitei soul music community.

Track listing
All songs composed by Ersatz, lyrics written by Kai Fürstenberg (except lyrics of "Hohe Ansprüche", "Wirbelwind", "Östlich von Eden" and "3:00 AM" written by Ersatz)

Personnel
Production
 * Ersatz – executive production, production
 * Kai Fürstenberg – executive production, production, programming
 * Ginseng – additional production
 * Lio Böhme – additional production (track 4, 7)
 * Konstantina Zanelli – additional production (track 9)
 * Wendy Bierwirth – vocal production (tracks 1–3), additional vocal production (track 7)

Artwork
 * Theo Abt – photography
 * Safar el-Jaffer – art direction, design

Technical
 * Tessa Lehner – engineering
 * Sara Arvanitiadi – mastering
 * Daniil Totas – engineering assistance (track 4, 7, 9)
 * Malte Homrighausen – engineering assistance (tracks 1-3, 6)
 * Raihaana el-Tamer – mixing
 * Claus Frankenburg – engineering for mix
 * Julie Fahr – mixing assistance
 * Ioulia Constantinea – mixing assistance (tracks 1, 3, 7-10)
 * Tobi Rickenbacker – mixing assistance (track 7)

NEXT ALBUM
Erinnerst du dich? (Do You Remember?), stylized as ERINNEREST DU DICH?, is the upcoming third studio album by American singer-songwriter Kiara Yoshikawa, known professionally as Ersatz. It is scheduled for release in 2021 through the Engelholz Elektroakustik record label. The album was preceded by three singles; the title track, "Schlafzimmer Dach", and "Songharistrasse".