Junko Hirotani -- Sono Ai ni...（その愛に…）

One of the albums that I purchased during my annual Xmas binge was Junko Hirotani's（広谷順子）debut album "Sono Ai ni..." (For That Love...) from May 1979, and I'd been planning to talk about it for a while. Today is that day, especially because this morning when I was checking one of her YouTube videos, I'd discovered that Hirotani passed away yesterday on January 4th through a comment underneath it. I confirmed this on Yahoo Japan News as well as on my Mixi account. The source was from her husband, singer-songwriter Yasuhiro Kido（木戸やすひろ）who had made the announcement on his own Facebook page. I'd just written about a Xmas tune on December 25th that featured both her and Kido along with two other singers.

A few years ago, I wrote about Hirotani's 2nd album "Blendy" which I thought was a mixture of straight pop, City Pop and some AOR. Her debut album "Sono Ai ni..." is also a pop production but somewhat closer to a folksy New Music result, perhaps along the lines of Mieko Nishijima（西島三重子）and Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）for the most part. The singer composed all of the tracks and Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）was in charge of the arrangement.

The first track is "Koto Meguri"（古都めぐり...Tour of the Old Capital）which was also Hirotani's 2nd single from August 1979. Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）wrote the lyrics about the usual kayo trope of a woman slowly picking up the pieces after a romantic breakup with the oft-used remedy of a trip somewhere. Instead of the north, though, which seems to me the favourite locale for the aftermaths of love disintegrations, the destination here is Kyoto. Starting off dramatically pensive, Hirotani's melody then goes into a fairly brisk trot with that description of that folksy New Music that I mentioned above. There's also a nice electric guitar solo provided by the late Masaki Matsubara（松原正樹）according to an interview with Hirotani in the liner notes for the CD, which also mention that the song was used for a Kintetsu Railways commercial.

Another track is "Asamoya no Naka de"（朝もやの中で...In the Morning Mist）which was the B-side to "Koto Meguri" written by Yumi Morita（森田由美）. This one tends to veer but not quite reach the AOR side of things.

"Tooi Joukei"（遠い情景...Distant Sighting）is the more upbeat second track on "Sono Ai ni..." and it definitely feels like a jovial folk tune with Ryu's lyrics describing the reminiscences of a childhood back in the countryside. I did get that Nishijima sensation from listening to this one. Of course, that ocarina that starts things off and hangs on throughout helps with the folk feeling.

Morita and Hirotani worked together again here on "Last Scene...Sayonara"（ラスト・シーン…さよなら）. In the liner notes, Hirotani mentioned that though Matsutoya had a huge influence on how the song was ultimately shaped, she was also a big fan of Burt Bacharach, perhaps hinting that she wanted to bring in some of his influence into the proceedings. As for me, the bossa nova in "Last Scene" reminded me somewhat of Junko Yagami（八神順子）at that time.

The final track of the album is "Sugisatte Iku Mono"（過ぎ去って行くもの...What Goes By）by Morita and Hirotani, a bittersweet ballad about the changing of the seasons and perhaps the turning of the page when it comes to the end of a relationship. The intro reminds me a lot of the one for Iruka's（イルカ）"Nagori Yuki"（なごり雪）which also relates the finish of romance.

My final contribution for the album is the title track itself. "Sono Ai ni...", also by Morita and Hirotani, is a mid-tempo song that doesn't strike me as being the most optimistic on the emotion of love. There's a rather big existential sigh that seems to pervade the lyrics, punctuated at the end with some thunder-like percussion. For all of the songs, though, Hirotani's light but resonant voice shines throughout.

The album was remastered and re-released in 2016 with the addition of bonus tracks in the form of Hirotani's debut single, "Michi"（道）and its B-side "Kagirinai Sora"（かぎりない空）.

My condolences to the Kido and Hirotani families.