Kohei Matsushita -- Tsuyogari（つよがり）

 

As I type this, it's currently Earth Hour so the lights are down very low. I figure that I could be just lying in bed for the hour but frankly I prefer typing to risking ruining my usual sleep so here we are.

Since I no longer watch Japanese dramas anymore, I have never heard of actor Kohei Matsushita（松下洸平）but he hails from Hachioji, Tokyo and has been a thespian since 2009. But a year earlier than that, he had started a singing and songwriting career under the mononym of Kohei under which he released a couple of official singles, a few digital download singles and a limited concert CD in the late 2000s.

I found out about Matsushita when he appeared on a recent episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）and performed his first single under his full name. "Tsuyogari" (A Show of Courage) was released in August 2021 and it's a light soulful ballad written by Kiyoshi Matsuo（松尾潔）and composed by Yoshihiro Toyoshima（豊島吉宏）. What got me interested in the song was that initially because of the arrangement, I'd assumed that this was another sweet Tomita Lab concoction but of course it wasn't from finding out the songwriting credits at JASRAC. There is also something about Matsushita's vocals that remind me of the R&B duo Chemistry.

As for Matsuo's lyrics, I gather that one-half of a soon-to-be ex-couple is reminiscing, perhaps sadly-if-wisely, about the good times of the romance, and how it has to take a show of courage to admit that the relationship has to end. I can understand that feeling perfectly. "Tsuyogari" broke into the Top 10 on Oricon by peaking at No. 8. Matsushita released a mini-album close to Xmas last year and he put out a digital download single almost a couple of weeks ago, "KISS".