Yui Murase -- W., Morning

 

Well, it took pretty much the entire decade of time that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been in existence, but finally I am able to talk about the album that is known as singer Yui Murase's（村瀬由衣）debut, "W., Morning" from April 1992. Now, just to clarify, that title is the one in fancy typography on the front cover of the CD with the come-hither Murase by the doorway. However, on the spine of the case, the Japanese title is "Suiyoubi no Asa, Mado wo Akeru"（水曜日の朝、窓を開ける...Open Your Windows on Wednesday Morning）.

For years, I was wondering about giving my thoughts on "W., Morning" through a KKP article but finding the tracks on YouTube proved daunting. However, over the years, I was able to find a couple of tracks represented on the platform: the peppy title track and the contemplative "To Each His Own". Now, I've already explained how and why I got Murase's debut album despite not knowing anything about her through those two articles, so have a go over there and find out if you wish. Otherwise, I'm just going to dive into the tracks.

Although when I first got "W., Morning", I wasn't quite as appreciative of the album, I am now fully satisfied that I did get a keeper after all. My general impression at present is that it's spearheaded by a lady who'd had plenty of experience and training as a backup singer before finally getting her own chance behind the lead mike. It was no waste of her talents in the recording booth. 

Case in point: Track 7, "Ame no Detail"（雨のディテール...Details in the Rain）. This is a mid-tempo pop song of regret as a man in his office gets mesmerized by the rain spattering on his windows which then makes him remember the romance that he has since lost. Hidetoshi Yamada（山田秀俊）worked on the music and keyboards while Kanata Asamizu（朝水彼方）took care of the melancholy lyrics and Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）arranged everything. There was even a City Pop presence in the form of Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）on guitar. By the way, the information on the various songwriters and musicians comes from Discogs.

"Living in Your Portrait" is the second track, and folks can be forgiven if they first assumed that somehow Tatsuro Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi（山下達郎・竹内まりや）had something to do with the creation of this groovy and rolling song. I mean, the rhythm and the background chorus just sound so Tats summery, doesn't it? Plus, there's the harmonica solo! Actually, though, the composer was City Pop-turned-technopop ingenue Miharu Koshi（コシミハル）with Asamizu on lyrics once more (and for almost all of the remaining tracks except for "To Each His Own"). Another KKP resident is here with Nobuo Ariga（有賀啓雄）on arrangement, background chorus and bass.

The reason that I finally pulled the trigger on talking about Murase and "W., Morning" is that an uploader finally put up the entire album onto YouTube earlier this summer, and so I'm quite thankful to them. At this point, the other tracks can only be found here, and these are good ones so allow me to plug ahead.

Track 1, "Haru no Arashi"（春の嵐...Spring Storm） is one of the tracks that has stayed in my mind since my purchase of the album back in the early 1990s. A proud power ballad led by piano depicting a declaration of commitment to a relationship no matter the risk of rough seas, Murase shows her vocal chops right from the get-go.

At 9:22 is Track 3 "Cool". This is Ariga's own composition and arrangement and it's a dreamier ballad about how grateful a woman is about her husband or boyfriend coming back to her each and every night. Maybe she puts on a slightly tsundere expression but inside she's really quite content. Perhaps the title hints at her surface demeanor but for me, it actually has the spiritual function of bringing the temperature down a few reassuring degrees.

The following song is "Kiss Shite mo Heiki"（キスしても平気...It's Alright to Kiss Me） at 14:24 which is my favourite track on "W., Morning". It's an AOR/pop tune that I enjoy for Yudai Suzuki's（鈴木雄大）relaxing melody with a bit of tropical flavour, and Asamizu's lyrics are about as happy as any romance can get with a couple enjoy the simple pleasures of staying home together on a Sunday. Kunihiko Ryo（梁邦彦）arranged things here as well as handle the keyboards while Nobuo Yagi（八木のぶお）was on the harmonica as he was for "Living in Your Portrait".

Track 8 at 34:08 is "Yasashiku Kizukasete"（優しく気づかせて...Kindly Let Me Know） has Ryo arranging Shin Tanimoto's（谷本新）melody as something that I think is the out-and-out 1990s City Pop track of the album. It even comes with some added trombone by Yoichi Murata（村田陽一）.

Finally at 39:26 is "Yoin ~ Anata ga Soba ni Iru You ni"（余韻 ~あなたが側にいるように~...A Lingering Memory ~ As If You Were By My Side）. The final pop track is about remembering a past love but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of regret and more in the way of fond remembrance. Asamizu, Suzuki and Ryo were in on this one.

"W., Morning" may not have garnered a whole lot of attention in the J-Pop world but I think that Murase's first album is a good collection of songs for those who are interested in the classier side of pop of the early 1990s. At the same time, though, the singer and all those who worked on it have provided a slightly nostalgic bunch of songs reminiscent of the works of female singers in the mid to late 1980s such as Miki Imai（今井美樹）, Akiko Kobayashi（小林明子）and Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）. It's music to enjoy like sipping that latte during Sunday brunch.