It was through the anime field that I first found out about singer-songwriter-seiyuu Maaya Sakamoto（坂本真綾）, thanks to her contribution of the opening theme "Shiawase ni Tsuite Watashi ga Shitteiru Itsutsu no Houhou"（幸せについて私が知っている5つの方法）for one of my favourite anime "Koufuku Graffiti" (幸腹グラフィティ...Gourmet Graffiti) .
Little did I know at the time that Sakamoto's music career extended way back into the mid-1990s and even her time as a seiyuu went back even further into the late 1980s according to J-Wiki. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, she should be celebrating her 25th anniversary as a singer sometime next year.
Hearing her anison is wonderful but I've discovered that probably her non-anime material is also quite glorious, too. Case in point: this track from her March 2001 album "Lucy" titled "Kinobori to Akai Skirt" (Tree Climbing and the Red Skirt). One commenter stated that there is something very Beatles about this paean to the youthful years and I would agree, but I can also add that there is also a bit of Queen in there, too, but the rest of it is due to Sakamoto, lyricist Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂）and composer/album producer Yoko Kanno（菅野よう子）. Iwasato was also the one who provided the lyrics to the aforementioned "Shiawase ni Tsuite Watashi ga Shitteiru Itsutsu no Houhou" in 2015. Kudos to her for providing the words about the bittersweet story of a boy and girl in youth who were the closest of buddies only to slowly grow apart as they grew up.
As well, I really love Kanno for putting in some of that sunny nostalgia through her melody and arrangement via the Beatles/Queen, especially with that distinctive guitar wail that I like to describe as elastic and the piano with the background chorus. Incidentally, Kanno is also on keyboards here.
"Lucy" sold about 43,000 albums as it peaked at No. 16 on Oricon. Although how the album got its title is not mentioned in either J-Wiki or Wikipedia, I do wonder considering the nature of this particular song whether "Lucy" had something to do with a sky and diamonds. Also before I leave off, I believe commenter Michael may have recommended this one to me; if so, my thanks to him.
Hi J. Yeah, this was one of the songs I recommended in one of my lists and for good reason – it's a superb song, no less enjoyable than it was day one.
ReplyDeleteYoko Kanno's repeated piano stabs drive the rhythm and provide rich harmonic textures to the backdrop, while smooth interludes add contrast so that the song doesn't risk becoming monotonous. Maaya's voice is on the money, as usual, with one of her most infectious melodies to date.
Most surprising is that only 43,000 albums of Lucy were sold, at least back when it first released, considering Maaya's popularity. Mind-boggling.