It’s
been a while since I last listened to something surprising coming from the
Japanese market. Besides the usual artists, such as Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ),
Chisato Moritaka (森高千里) or Shizuka Kudo (工藤静香), I’ve
spent a lot of my time listening to New Kids On The Block lately (“Step by Step” is
pop perfection, by the way). Yeah, my fault for falling in love with the
boyband’s late 80s/early 90s cheesy numbers.
However,
with some help, I can still get into some creative aidoru songs from nowadays.
Even though I’m well aware that the majority of them is safe, bland and
formulaic, I can still hear bits of imaginative pop music construction coming
from this niche, and maybe a good example is the strong, dramatic and over the
top “Teokure caution” by aidoru group =LOVE (イコールラブ).
Partially
produced by AKB48 and HKT48 superstar member Rino Sashihara (指原莉乃),
=LOVE is a group comprised by seiyuu aidoru singers that made its major debut
last year, in 2017. Now, in May 2018, they’ve released their third single, “Teokure
caution”, with a music video full of bad acting accompanying this surprisingly
good song.
“Teokure
caution” isn’t an easy ride that will make you chill and relax. In the end, your
ears will probably be a little worned out, thanks to all the wild strings and
the typical AKB48-like unison singing during the choruses. I feel like being
hit by a blast of obscure energy, but one well put together. Not that the song
is perfect, and it’s far from it, but I enjoy the dare shown by all the people responsible for producing and releasing songs like that in the mainstream market. Something that’s
so detached from the common sense generally adopted in the pop music world, or,
as I like to say, a song with so many wrong elements put together in a beautiful
way.
The
single reached #3 on the Oricon charts, selling around 75,932 copies, according
to. Lyrics were written by Rino Sashihara, while music was composed by Hiroshi
Imai (今井ひろし). As
for the arrangement, Tatsuya Kurauchi (倉内達矢) was the responsible.
Source: https://www.generasia.com/w/images/6/64/%3DLOVE_-_Teokure_caution_reg_C.jpg
Hello, Marcos.
ReplyDeleteYes, I quickly sped through the drama and went straight to the song. So Ms. Sashihara has gone into production and songwriting as well, I see. If so, I think she's learned quite well from Mr. Akimoto. I should also warn that ears may be hit by the screaming. Glad that I kept the volume down to about 30.:)
Hi, J-Canuck.
DeleteIt's good Sashihara is trying new things. Once the gets older, she can still produce new aidoru artists. The whole drama and screaming was a little unnecessary, but the song overshadows all the cheap details, imo. I've been listening to it in the last few days, and it's still strong in my ears.
One of my favorites from this year.
ReplyDeleteHi, Imani.
DeleteI agree with you. It's a great highlight from 2018.