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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