Filed under: Rie fu | Tags: ツキアカリ, J-POP, JPOP, Rie fu, Rie fu Tsukiakari, Singles, Tsukiakari
Tracklist:
1. Tsukiakari
2. dreams be
3. Tsukiakari (Instrumental)
4. dreams be (Instrumental)
Tsukiakari is Rie fu’s 7th single. It was released on the 25th of May, 2007. It climbed to 35 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and managed to sell 4, 516 copies. Tsukiakari was used as the ending track for the anime Darker Than Black.
Tsukiakari is a gorgeous ballad that commences with some distorted keyboard chords, and some soft maracas. Rie fu’s soothing voice follows soon after, she sings with a beautiful
mellow tone. She doesn’t vary her voice much, until the chorus starts, where she belts out the word Tsukiakari (moonlight) with great emotion. The verses are nice, but the chorus is the part of the song that truly stands out.
Rie fu’s English is exceptional, so dreams be came as a welcome B-side. The lyrics are as always creative and meaningful and still had some of the moon and night sky theme, because of lines such as “Today, I still watch the stars.” The arrangement is more upbeat than Tsukiakari, and a little more complex than Tsukiakari, but not much.
Tsukiakari was an excellent 7th single. Rie fu continues to get better with each single that she releases, and her voice is improving too, not that it needed to be improved in the first place…
Rating
4½ stars
Filed under: ELISA | Tags: ELISA, ELISA HIKARI, HIKARI, J-POP, JPOP, Singles
Tracklist:
1. HIKARI
2. Story
3. HIKARI (Instrumental)
4. Story (Instrumental)
HIKARI is ELISA’s 2nd single, and was released on the 21st of May, 2008. It was the theme song for an anime called Nabari no Ou.
I really didn’t know what to expect of ELISA, as I had never heard of her before, and one day while browsing the internet I stumbled upon her and decided to give her a listen, and I was surprised with HIKARI. The single starts straight away with her singing and some simple piano chords and a harp, before an orchestra is introduced. ELISA has an amazing voice that reaches the high notes extremely well. HIKARI is a slow string based ballad that kept me captivated throughout. I especially like the bit towards the end when it slows down and ELISA is singing softly, and then all of a sudden the arrangement bursts and all the instruments heard throughout the song are played all at once.
Story is the complete opposite of HIKARI as it is a dance track. ELISA’s vocals once again are top notch, however they aren’t as powerful and they sound more relaxed than in HIKARI. The electric guitars throughout make the song sound gritty and aggressive. Towards the end the song has an ingenious electric guitar solo, which I thought was perfect. I thought that Story was high quality material; however I didn’t find it as illuminating as HIKARI.
HIKARI was an amazing find. I admit I did not have big expectations for this single, however when first heard HIKARI I was blown away. While ELISA may not be very well known in the J-Pop community, I think that she should be recognised for putting out this fantastic single, and I highly recommend it.
Rating
4 stars
