Yuki Aya -- Will You Wait For Me?

(Sorry but the video has been taken down)

A little over a couple of months, I did an article on Toshiki Kadomatsu's（角松敏生）album "After 5 Clash" which I had gotten hooked on from the really busy cover and then the alternately funky and mellow tracks. I mentioned that the album was the one Anri（杏里）release that didn't have Anri in it.

In fact, one track that I featured on the article was the lovely ballad "Will You Wait For Me?" which struck me as something that Anri just had to have done at least in concert. Well, I'm not sure whether one of my favourite singers did actually do so, but someone else has apparently. Her name is Yuki Aya（彩裕季）and frankly there is not a whole lot of information on her. I had to piece a few items of information together from Amazon and the Japanese music blog that I've occasionally referred to, "Music Avenue".

Apparently, she debuted in 1993 with a mini-album "Girlfriend" before coming out with a full album titled "Heartstrings" in the same year. Her version of "Will You Wait For Me?" is the final track on that album, and of course, Kadomatsu provided words and music, and he even helped on backing vocals. Compared to the 80s urban nighttime feel of Kadomatsu's original, Aya's take is lighter and mellower with a touch of Latin, and as the author on "Music Avenue" wrote down, the singer's vocals are "pure and simple". There is a hint of nostalgia as well since the arrangement for this version of "Will You Wait For Me?" just reminds me a lot of what a number of ballads sung by female singers back in the late 80s and early 90s sounded like.

I don't know whatever became of Aya but I'm hoping she's doing well. In any case, to save you the energy of having to press and scroll down for the Kadomatsu article, here is the original version right below you for comparison's sake.