Yasuhiro Abe -- Frame of Mind

Following up from yesterday's article on Yasuhiro Abe's（安部恭弘）"SLIT" album of 1984, I'm now going to talk about his next release from November 1985, "Frame of Mind". Incidentally, the cover for "Frame of Mind" has been one of the standouts in my genre bible, "Japanese City Pop". The clouds aside, that figure of Abe in the cool dark suit and the black gloves has me imagining the singer-songwriter as a yakuza enforcer waiting for the money owed his boss. Either I give him his cash or my internal organs.

What finally sparked me to give up my cash instead of my lungs for "Frame of Mind", though, was that cooler-than-a-late-summer-breeze track "Where is Love"...and the cover. When I finally got the album in my hands several days ago, I put it on the TEAC and heard Track 1, "Lady", and I knew that I indeed hit paydirt.

Written and composed by Abe (as he did with all of the tracks unless specified), "Lady" is one sultry and sexy song that belongs to Tokyo. The horns and the Fender Rhodes are perfect here, and Abe's good friend, EPO, is on hand with some heavenly backup chorus work.

As was the case with yesterday's article on "SLIT", I will be referring to kaz-shin's own review of "Frame of Mind" on his "Music Avenue". He mentioned that Track 3's "PUMPS" starts off with what sounds like a variation on the famous bass intro for Tats Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Itsuka"（いつか）, but after that, the song actually goes into a more old-timey pop tune about admiring that young lady...and maybe her choice of shoes. Abe's vocals sound very resonant here, and once again, EPO helps out on backup, even doing a bit of techno-jazz scatting near the end. Hiromi Mori（森浩美）worked on the lyrics. "PUMPS" was also the B-side for Abe's 9th single "Tennessee Waltz"（テネシー・ワルツ） released in April 1986.

"Tasogare"（黄昏...Sunset） is a sigh-worthy AOR ballad that kaz-shin says is more of a winter song but both he and I agree that it's perfectly fine for any day that has a decent dusk going for it. Once again, the keyboards are lovely here.

"So Good, So Fine", the final track on Side A represents the good vibes felt by a couple on their Caribbean cruise. Much of the melody is handled by synthesizer but thanks to the additional strings, it has the high-gloss sheen of inhabiting the finest cabin overlooking the Lido Deck. And that "Wonna wonna, wow wow" line repeated in the refrain makes me believe that the song can be easily covered by EPO.

Speaking of EPO covering potential Abe tunes, I think that "Kiss Mark" also fits the bill. It's got that jumpy, happy melody that Abe's friend can do in her sleep. And hey, it is indeed her again on backup. Kaz-shin also mentions that of all of the tracks, "Kiss Mark" sounds the most Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）, who did arrange the album. I'm gonna have to check whether Shimizu indeed arranged EPO's big hits. "Kiss Mark" was Abe's 7th single from April 1985 for which the B-side was the pop/rock "Heart Trick" that was placed in the "SLIT" album. Chinfa Kan（康珍化）wrote the lyrics.

The penultimate track on "Frame of Mind" is truly an unusual one for Abe. "Kimi wa Yume no Naka"（君は夢の中...You're in My Dreams） was actually created and recorded by the singer all the way back in 1976, according to kaz-shin, and here on the album, it's been given a re-recording. Despite that, though, it still retains that 1970s New Music sound, thanks to all of the keyboards, and I couldn't help but feel that this could have been created by Off-Course（オフコース）or Sentimental City Romance（センチメンタル・シティ・ロマンス）. Plus, the way "Kimi wa Yume no Naka" ends is rather reminiscent of progressive rock.

"Close Your Eyes" is the final track, and the album ends on that groovy City Pop note that is Abe's bread and butter (no Japanese City Pop pun intended). Kaz-shin mentions that this is the ideal drive song at midnight, but I think it's perfect for any time of the day or night while bombing down the highway. No matter the opinion, though, it's a good track to finish on. "Close Your Eyes" was also the singer's 8th single from September 1985.

This was also mentioned in my article on "SLIT", but kaz-shin stated that whereas that album had Abe exploring quite a few genres, he kept things more at "home" here. Perhaps so, but I still think that he did push things into a more mainstream pop feeling here as well, and of course, there is the distinct "Kimi no Yume no Naka".

In any case, both he and I agree that if any of you are intrigued by Abe's oeuvre, then "SLIT" and "Frame of Mind" are the two to get.