Misia -- Love Never Dies

 

Well, I gotta say that as a Misia fan along with tons of other people, I was rather surprised and delighted to see the famed singer-songwriter show up on two NHK shows within as many nights. First off, she appeared on the morning information variety program "Asaichi"（あさイチ）as a guest on the Premium Talk segment and then earlier tonight, she was even one of the panelists on the popular "Chiko-chan" quiz show. And in both cases, she was talking up a storm. The "Asaichi" appearance alone was the most that I had ever seen her converse with anyone. 

My history with Misia has been long and has had its ups and downs. When I first heard about her in the late 1990s, I considered her to be one of the biggest vocal powerhouses and pioneers of J-R&B going into the turn of the century, mixing in soul, hip-hop and dance music into an intoxicating blend. Of course, she came through with some heartrending ballads and for a number of years, I lost touch with her because I just thought that she was overdoing it with the love songs. I also enjoyed her upbeat and danceworthy tunes, too.

Well, somebody has got to update the J-Wiki article for Misia's discography because the R&B diva has just released a new single in the last few days titled "Love Never Dies". Of course, she introduced it on "Asaichi" and one YouTube commenter noted that it sounds like some of her old dance stuff, and that person is right and doesn't mind at all. I certainly don't mind at all. Created by Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）and Misia, the above has gotten a remix by Eric Kupper.

A considerably shorter version of "Love Never Dies" is the soundtrack for the official music video starring the vivacious Naomi Watanabe（渡辺直美）in a Cinderella-esque role.