Nona Reeves -- Yasumou, ONCE MORE （休もう、ONCE MORE）

Tokyo is a great walking city...provided you don't do the walking during the dog days of summer (at that time, you would most likely be melting). Neighbourhoods of many types abound such as ritzy Ginza and Akasaka, the older town of Sugamo, the Teen Mecca of Shibuya, and trendy Harajuku among others. Plus, there are smaller dense sections where I believe, due to looser zoning restrictions, establishments such as a coin laundromat can be squeezed between a Gundam figure shop and a convenience store. It's kinda like the Forrest Gump theory of that box of chocolates.

About 10 years ago, during Golden Week, I even decided to walk above ground along the length of the Ginza Line from Asakusa all the way to Shibuya. The subway would take 30 minutes to traverse from end to end; it took me close to 6 hours. My feet were reduced to stubs somewhere around Akasaka-Mitsuke, and they loudly vented their anger at me for the next couple of days of the holiday. But before the pain set in, it was a glorious sunny walk through many different areas of Tokyo.

I think in a way that is what the band Nona Reeves（ノーナ・リーヴス）is also espousing through their sunny tune, "Yasumou, ONCE MORE" (Let's Take A Break Once More). The fellow in the lyrics has kinda reached the end of his rope and wants to refresh his body, spirit and perhaps his relationship with his girlfriend. It's one of those happy ditties that encourages folks to stop and smell the roses once in a while. It surely sounds like something that would make a fine musical companion during a walk through someplace in the big city.

"Yasumou, ONCE MORE" is a track on Nona Reeves' 12th album "POP STATION" from March 2013 with vocalist Gota Nishidera（西寺郷太）and Naohisa Taniguchi（谷口尚久）taking care of words and music. Usually, I've heard the band go more into the funky side or a neo-City Pop mode but this one is just a pleasant straight-ahead pop song, and this time, each of the three members has his time behind the mike, so it is a nice thing that it was placed as the finale for the album. The album itself only got as high as No. 80 on Oricon, and the highest-ranking album that Nona Reeves has had to date is their most recent BEST compilation from this year at No. 46. It would be nice if the band could receive a little more love.

Then again, the Oricon rankings are one thing. Having a small but faithful fan base is another. So, as the band espouses in the song, let's not sweat things too much and just handle things as they come. It's a philosophy that I've been adopting for a few years now.