indigo la End/Asako Toki -- Natsu Yoru no Magic（夏夜のマジック）

 

Going into the final days of June 2022, it is certainly feeling like summer out there. I have the fan on behind me and the sun is shining at full power outside. At the same time, I've been observing that Japan seems to have already entered the blisteringly hot and humid period with the authorities asking citizens to conserve on energy lest the grid blows. I don't think that I've seen that sort of announcement so early, and I'm hoping that water isn't the next thing that needs to be conserved.

Though the Japanese summer is one of the very few things that I don't miss about my time there (I barely swim in water, let alone atmosphere), it is admittedly nostalgic when I remember hearing the cicadas buzzing away and seeing the seasonal festivals happening in various neighbourhoods with folks in yukata and cute little firecrackers flashing away. I kinda wish that I had the chance to attend more of those, actually. But perhaps, that's because I've seen enough of those romanticized on anime.

Anyways, that's the vibe I get when I watch the video and hear this song by the band indigo la End, "Natsu Yoru no Magic" (Summer Night Magic). This was one of the coupling tracks on the band's 3rd major single, "Kanashiku Mae ni"（悲しくなる前に...Before It Gets Sad） from June 2015 (peaked at No. 12 on Oricon). Although indigo la End is known as an indies rock group, this particular song about finding that romantic magic one night in the hot season is more in the pop vein of things with that bluesy guitar and Enon Kawakami's（川谷絵音）plaintive vocals. I also enjoy the "fu, fu, fu, fuuu..." chorus; sounds and feels like a summer breeze.

Kawakami was also the lyricist and composer for "Natsu Yoru no Magic", and if his name sounds familiar to you, he was also doing double duty as the vocalist and songwriter for his other band Gesu no Kiwami Otome（ゲスの極み乙女。）. For indigo la End, which has been around since 2010, he is currently supported by guitarist Curtis Osada（長田カーティス）, bassist Ryosuke Gocho（後鳥亮介）and drummer Eitaro Sato（佐藤栄太郎）.

The same cool and mellow vibe exists in Asako Toki's（土岐麻子）cover of "Natsu Yoru no Magic" which is a track on her February 2021 album of covers "HOMETOWN ~ Cover Songs", with some more enhanced guitar and Toki's reassuring vocals.