Kirinji -- Shinryoku no Kyojin（新緑の巨人）

I once again plopped in Kirinji's（キリンジ）masterful "Ai wo aru dake, Subete"（愛をあるだけ、すべて）2018 album into the player last night and enjoyed another 40 minutes of melodic bliss. Then I enjoyed it so much that I listened to the power middle-order lineup on the album once more. For me, that would be "AI no Touhikou"（AIの逃避行）, "Hi Zero Wa Game"（比ゼロ和ゲーム）and "Jikan ga nai"（時間がない）.

At the time that I wrote up the article for the album, those three songs were the only ones represented on YouTube (very much thankfully, though). However, recently I was able to find a new video showing off one of the other tracks on "Ai wo aru dake, Subete", "Shinryoku no Kyojin" (Titans of the New Leaves).

I would like to stress that although the three songs that make up my personal power lineup as mentioned above are truly splendid, the entirety of the album is great overall. "Shinryoku no Kyojin" is a more mid-tempo and introspective synthpop track written and composed by Takaki Horigome（堀込高樹）, and through the words and music, it seems to be his illustration of the Japanese tradition of shinrin-yoku（森林浴）or forest bathing.

Now, shinrin-yoku has nothing to do with plunking a bathtub in the middle of the woods and enjoying some Calgon time. It's actually taking a walk through the forest as a form of nature therapy to destress and feel better. I came across the term frequently when I was translating a whole bunch of those Japanese tourism articles a couple of years ago, and during this pandemic, for anyone who may be living next to the woods, perhaps this has been just the huge green tonic to endure this medical crisis.

Horigome's melody for "Shinryoku no Kyojin" might be a little too "loud" as a musical accompaniment for forest bathing, but the intent is there, and after all the partying especially through the power lineup, it's nice to get a breather. Still, I would be happy if a video pops up showing off one other track from the album, "Akumu wo Miru Cheese"（悪夢を見るチーズ）.