Misia -- Amazing Life

Just caught an episode of NHK's "Darwin ga Kita! - Ikimono Shin Densetsu"（ダーウィンが来た! 〜生きもの新伝説〜...Darwin Has Come! New Legends of the Animals） less than an hour ago on TV Japan. The episode focused on the seemingly loopy Lawe's parotia of New Guinea which really needs to put on a show to attract a mate, including the magical appearance of a happy face from its own plumage.

But of course, this isn't a bird blog...it is indeed a kayo/J-Pop one. So I wanted to bring your attention to the relatively new theme song for "Darwin ga Kita!". Since around April, the new tune to replace Ayaka Hirahara's（平原綾香）long-running "Smile Smile" is "Amazing Life" by amazing singer Misia.

A mellow R&B-flavoured ballad of inspiration for the animal kingdom, I've been entranced by Misia's latest from her December 2018 album "Life is going on and on". There's that mix of orchestral strings and gospel soul in there that is pure Misia. If it weren't for the fact that it's already been spoken for by NHK, it probably could have ended up on the Japanese editions for the upcoming new version of "The Lion King". Misia took care of the lyrics while Hidekazu Uchiike（内池秀和）, the same composer for "Smile Smile", provided the new melody.