E-Girls -- Merry x Merry Xmas

When I first heard of these E-Girls, I had been under the impression that they were one of the many Korean girl groups that had been all the rage in Japan and elsewhere for the past decade or so. The many members all looked glamourous, gorgeous and leggy. However, Marcos V. set me straight when he wrote the first article on the group through their song "RYDEEN". E-Girls are just as Japanese as AKB48...only that the former are more glamourous, gorgeous and leggy.

Then I read where E-Girls was not only the sister act to the studly EXILE but were composed of smaller units. Marcos may have equated them as the Frankenstein gestalt of girl groups but I can go full Japanese pop culture and say that they might be more of the Voltron of such gatherings.

In any case, here is my contribution to the E-Girls' cause as well as another Xmas tune for the blog for this year. This is "Merry x Merry Xmas", their 15th single which was released on December 23rd 2015. The release date may have been a bit too close to the actual special day itself but the tune is so gosh-darn catchy that unlike Japanese Christmas cake, its best-by freshness most likely lasted far longer than the turkey.

Written by Masato Odake（小竹正人）and composed by YADAKO and Dirty Orange, "Merry x Merry Xmas" has that nice mix of new pop and some Motown feeling in the arrangement. The official music video looks like it was inspired by an appropriately seasonal display at a New York department store with the ladies enjoying themselves as if they were involved in the entertainment portion of the annual bonenkai.

The jingle-happy song reached as high as No. 4 on Oricon and was also used as the campaign tune for Samantha Thavasa. It is included on their BEST album "E.G. Smile ~E-Girls Best~" from February 2016 which peaked at No. 2.