SPARKLING☆CHERRY -- Windy

 

At the end of January, I introduced this band SPARKLING☆CHERRY which has been around since 2014 with at least four albums to its credit. Into the Neo-City Pop, it's had a few veterans from the original City Pop era helping out including singer-songwriter Kingo Hamada（濱田金吾）as permanent resident guitarist and producer Toshikazu Kanazawa（金澤寿和） with Cherry as the vocalist-songwriter. Rocket Brown of "Come Along Radio" was good enough to recommend the band during a recent conversation, and coming across their charming "Windy Rain", it was not only enough for me to write about it but it got me to get the originating album "Windy" which was released in December 2021. However, it also helped that the band had also put up their own "tasting plate" video so that I could listen to tidbits of each track, and that video can be found at the bottom of the "Windy Rain" article on KKP.

The first track "Your Wind" is a nice way to start things especially on a spring day like today where the images from Cherry's lyrics spark a similarly meteorologically wonderful Sunday with a young couple in love enjoying the domestic life in their small but stylish apartment. With a combination of synths and guitars (one played by Hamada), "Your Wind" has that pleasant mellow groove which makes the song more of an AOR or a straight pop number rather than something from the City Pop realm. Cherry's vocals are on the breezy and slightly coquettish side of things and she reminded me a bit of Asako Toki（土岐麻子）.

Unfortunately, not all of the tracks are up in their full form but I could find this tune "Sora no Shita World"（空の下World...World Under the Sky）. It's a fascinating one for no less than the fact that the above video was uploaded all the way back in 2012, although I'd said above  that SPARKLING☆CHERRY's debut album didn't come out until 2014. Well, apparently, there had been a self-produced album released in November 2011 by the band called "Ippo" according to their website, and the original "Sora no Shita World" came from that. While I think the rearranged version in "Windy" is more in keeping with the overall elegant sound of the album, the 2011 original has got a feeling that ranges between the music of Misia and Bird. There's that light Latin vibe that I've often heard in the latter's music paired with Cherry's vocals which resembles that of the former, especially in the way that she trips the light fantastic with the lyrics.

Cherry sounds especially good here on "Sunao ni Naretara" (素直になれたら...If I Can Be Honest) in this late afternoon/early evening light and mellow song that has Hamada playing the electric guitar with special guest guitarist Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）, no newbie when it comes to the City Pop scene. There's also something in the underlying rhythm that sounds quite Tatsuro-esque. The lyrics are all about regretting not being able to express one's love; interestingly enough, that seemed to be the theme from the opening episode of Season 2 of "Star Trek: Picard". Not sure whether Sir Pat would be into City Pop, though.

That was all I have been able to find in terms of videos for the tracks right now. But I have to say that the last two tracks, "Line"（線）and "Answer" are definitely more in the pop realm rather than anything urban contemporary. Also, the band does a fine rendition of "Goodbye Transfer", a song by Hamada that was originally sung by Rajie for her October 1984 album "Gogo no Relief"（午後のレリーフ...Afternoon Relief）. But again, if you want to at least hear some samples, head over to the "Windy Rain" article and scroll down to the bottom to hear the "tasting plate" video that I mentioned above. I'm not sure whether SPARKLING☆CHERRY's "Windy" is a Neo-City Pop classic but the songs have been entertaining and soothing enough so that I'm interested in checking out their previous three albums since the genre special guests were plentiful back then as well.