Naomi Takahashi -- Last Graduation

 

Looks like we have another singer whose information is extremely sparse. Some of the few things that I could find out about singer-songwriter Naomi Takahashi（高橋なおみ）were that she released an album in 1992 titled "Last Graduation" and possibly a couple of anison in 1994.

The Japanese reviewer of "Last Graduation" did mention that Takahashi has one of those voices that they may have heard before and then maybe not. In support of that first idea, they also said that she has worked as an event emcee, a piano teacher and a singer of commercial jingles. Plus, her high-toned and resonant voice has been compared to that of Sumiko Yamagata（やまがたすみこ）, Mari Iijima（飯島真理）and Yumi Tanimura（谷村有美）.

"Last Graduation" the title track and the first track of the album certainly bears that out in Takahashi's delivery. My first thought of this song which she wrote and composed though is that the arrangement reminded me of the works of Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）with the instruments getting together to sound more like a lonely J-Xmas tune than anything like a graduation kayo. The reviewer has said that "Last Graduation" the album has that 90s City Pop feeling but I think that "Last Graduation" the song is straight pop balladry.