I
had a lot of interesting experiences with J-Pop since I wrote my last
entries almost two weeks ago. One of them was aidoru group predia’s first major album, “Koko no Dahlia ni Kuchizuke wo” (孤高のダリアにくちづけを), which was released in February 2015.
I’ve
been aware of predia since December when they released “Utsukushiki Kodokutachi” (美しき孤独たち)
as a single, and I even planned to write something about this great
retro-sounding dance-pop song, but I ended leaving it behind and prioritized
other songs on the blog (I’m not proud of that decision, though). However,
their new album came out as a surprise, and a really good one, with interesting
and mature dance-pop songs that can be compared to Avex’s successful “aidoru-group-aimed-at-teenage girls” E-girls or even the now-defunct SDN48, which was AKB48’s “older
sisters” group.
predia
is alive as a group since 2010~11, but it wasn’t until early 2014 that they
signed a major label deal and started releasing strong songs like the
aforementioned “Utsukushiki Kodokutachi” and, now, the album promo “Na mo Naki Shiroi Hana wa Kie Iku”.
Classier and more polished than the majority of Japanese aidoru groups, predia, just like the aforementioned E-girls, was
surely created with the Korean brand
of mature and womanly aidoru pop in
mind. Thankfully, it came out classier than most Korean groups, and it’s great
to see an aidoru group with a couple
of strong vocalists like this one
(the short haired girl can really sing).
“Na
mo Naki Shiroi Hana wa Kie Iku” is an emotional dance-pop song with a strong
melody and some hints of R&B. Even though I love the arrangement with the
synths and piano (minus the out of place guitar solo, but that’s a common
feature in J-Pop), the vocals are what really makes me smile while listening to
this song, as, like I said before, predia was blessed with some very good vocalists.
In fact, even the “not most talented girls” in the group are very technical and
competent in the harmony department.
“Na
mo Naki Shiroi Hana wa Kie Iku” is such a well crafted pop song, and most of
the album consists of songs with the same level of quality as this one. In the
end, predia’s “Koko no Dahlia ni Kuchizuke wo” is surely one of 2015’s first standouts, and I hope the girls mantain
this great identity and pop sensibility, something that sets them apart from
the other aidoru groups out there.
The
“Koko no Dahlia ni Kuchizuke wo” album reached #23 on the Oricon charts. As for “Na mo Naki Shiroi Hana wa Kie Iku”,
lyrics were written by Satomi, music was composed by hirao (SpiralS) and
arrangement was done by mukai (SpiralS).
 |
| Source: generasia.com |
Hi, Marcos. Good to hear from you again.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I saw predia on the video, I automatically thought of a band from over a decade ago, Taiyo to Ciscomoon, although their music was more on the disco/R&B bent. Maybe it was just the attitude and posture. I can also see the resemblance to the Korean girl groups because of all of the legs in there.
You mentioned that "Utsukushiku Kodokutachi" was a retro-sounding dance pop song. I think that description can also fit "Na mo Naki". There is something 90s about the arrangement.
Hi, J-Canuck.
DeleteI'm glad I finally wrote my predia article. I'm really enjoying this group right now.
I agree with you that "Na mo Naki Shiroi Hana wa Kie Iku" is also a retro-sounding dance pop song, but "Utsukushiku Kodokutachi" sounds more blatant in this department, especially with the synths that were used on it.
Yesterday, I showed "Utsukushiku Kodokutachi" to one of my best friends and he really liked the song. In his opinion, I shold try introducing predia to other people, and not Tochiotome25's "Wagyuu Fire!!". In his words, people starts thinking bad things about J-Pop when they watch a bunch of headbanging cows. So, even though, I like the wacky and ackward J-Pop songs, I agree with him that a group like predia is more seductive to a new listener.
As for Taiyo to Ciscomoon, I vaguely remember them and the disco/R&B sound you talked about, and I think I still have their first album somewhere in my HD. Maybe it's time to give the group a try.
Hi, Marcos.
DeleteI'm gonna have to listen to "Utsukushiku Kodokutachi" and find out then. As for "Wagyuu Fire!!"...yep (ha, ha)...maybe you can hold off on that one for people with a very whimsical sense of humour.
I was reading about Taiyo to Ciscomoon on J-Wiki and was surprised to find out that they didn't last too long...maybe a couple of years. I guess their presence on TV was pretty intense.