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I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Friday, September 2, 2022

Naoko Gushima -- Ku-gatsu no Umi(9月の海)

 

Yesterday, I put up that list of mine regarding late summer-to-autumn Japanese pop songs. If I'd known about this one that I am about to talk about, I would have included it there, too.

Singer-songwriter Naoko Gushima(具島直子)isn't someone that I get a chance to write about a lot, but over the years, I've gained more appreciation for her stylish approach to pop with some soul thrown in. I wouldn't consider her "Ku-gatsu no Umi" (September Sea) to be Neo-City Pop or even really R&B, but there's something undeniably urban and cool about it. Written and composed by the singer, the gravitas-laden piano and the bluesy guitar set the tone for a song whose image to me through the lyrics is of a lady walking barefoot along the beach wondering whether love will strike again. Another image is of an amiable Friday night dinner for a couple in their favourite neighbourhood restaurant of class and style.

"Ku-gatsu no Umi" was a new song added to Gushima's first BEST compilation, "Magic Wave", from April 2009.

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