Kirinji -- Neo（ネオ）

 

Earlier this year, just before COVID-19 swamped the planet, I was able to give my thoughts on the two most recent albums by the band Kirinji（キリンジ）: "Ai wo aru dake, Subete"（愛をあるだけ、すべて）from 2018 and "cherish" from 2019. Both had their wonderful charms with the former being a trip to that spacey disco above the ionosphere while the latter also brought in some breathing time in the VIP lounge. Then, in late May, I came across "Koi no Kehai"（恋の気配）which was a track on Kirinji's third-most recent album released in August 2016. After listening to it a few times with singer-songwriter Kotringo（コトリンゴ）behind the mike, I knew that I had to get that album once I was gainfully employed once more. That album is "Neo".

Well, I became gainfully employed again sometime in midsummer so once I got my first real paycheck in a season, I used some of that salary to get a few albums including "Neo". My first impression on hearing the album a couple of times is that "Neo" is a bit less spacey than the next two albums with this release being the last one featuring Kotringo after being with the band between 2013-2016. However, that doesn't mean that Kirinji was on the straight-and-narrow pop path; they tried out some intriguing things. By the way, unless specified, leader Takaki Horigome（堀込高樹）was responsible for words and music.

And already I'm going to specify something here. Right from the first track, "Neo" launches with a full blast with "The Great Journey" which invites one of the oldest Japanese hip-hop acts, RHYMESTER to add their writing contributions and singing chops to Horigome's own work. It seems from the lyrics by RHYMESTER's Utamaru（宇多丸）and Mummy-D and the Kirinji leader that it's a hyped-up theme for the evolution of life from the Ice Age to the Space Age. There is plenty of rapping in there by the two acts but "The Great Journey" is not a pure hip-hop tune and though there is some of that wonderfully whimsical Kirinji sound in there, it's not a pure Kirinji tune either. It's something that's perhaps a sum bigger than the total of its two parts. Certainly, everyone in the video above probably wanted to chug-a-lug a good cask of beer following the concert.

Then, we come to the second track, "Mr. BOOGIEMAN". As soon as I heard the first few bars, I figured that this was going to be guitarist Erino Yumiki's（弓木英梨乃）turn behind the mike since it sounds not only like something from the Doobie Brothers but also something which comes across as being so adorably cute. I also think that "Mr. BOOGIEMAN", who probably isn't scary at all but someone attractive and out for a good time on the town, could be great for a techno aidoru to tackle. Heck, Yumiki's performance at the concert above has her pulling off that old-fashioned showmanship technique of "making the rounds" except that it isn't through the seated audience of a restaurant-ballroom but just around the band members. 

Creamy-voiced Kotringo is behind the lyrics and Horigome is behind the music for what I think is "Hibi Kore Kanko"（日々是観光）. Not 100% on the kanji reading of that middle character and as for the translation, I think it's meant to say "Sightseeing Through These Days". Not going to worry too much about it, though, since this track is also quite soothing and quirky with the synth notes and the light samba as the two songwriters also perform "Hibi Kore Kanko" as the musical recipe in how to live happily for each day and not get too worked about stuff.

I could pick up some of the Beatles in the happy-go-lucky "Nen-neko"（ネンネコ）which could be a mashup between two words: nenne for baby blanket and neko for cat. All of those feline fans can do with a few listens of this track since it seems to be relaxing while viewing a cutely sleeping cat. I was bopping my head from side-to-side. It just goes to show that a cat's life can truly be the life of Riley. It would seem that every Kirinji album has that one truly quirky and catchy song; I'm reminded of "Pizza VS. Hamburger" from "cherish" for instance.

My final track here is a sad but beautiful ballad about love not finding the way. "Ano Ko no Birthday"（あの娘のバースデイ...That Girl's Birthday） by Horigome deals with a relationship that isn't meant to be due to too wide a gap in terms of things such as class. Both Kotringo and Yumiki share the microphone, and in the video above, Yumiki even shows her prowess with the violin. It's all very baroque but there's a part of the song that reminds me of some of the early love songs of Yumi Arai（荒井由実）.

In all honesty, of the three albums that I've written about here tonight, I think "Neo" has been the one that's taken a little longer to grab onto me. There's not as much of the spacey Jamiroquai feeling here on this album that was imbued into "Ai wo aru dake, Subete" and "cherish", and being a fan of Jamiroquai, I guess that's the thing for me. However, having said that, I'm happy to say that with repeated listenings to "Neo" over the weeks, the album has become as comfy as a pair of slippers. It's just another phase that I've experienced of this amazing band called Kirinji.

But as I've mentioned in the "Koi no Kehai" article, "Neo" has been the most successful of their albums so far in terms of the Oricon charts since it topped off at No. 11.