Yup, I've been missing the distinct aidoru group Especia with their brand of 80s and City Pop since they broke up in 2017 with member Monari Wakita（脇田もなり）leaving the group the previous year.
Still, Wakita has done pretty well for herself in a solo career, and since the last article I did of her was back in late 2021 for her 2018 "Gozigen Lover-Joi", I'm going to bring in another one of her 2018 songs, "Take It Lucky!!!!", her 5th single from April of that year. I've usually put in the label of (Neo) City Pop even for her solo material, but I think "Take It Lucky!!!!" is fairly firm in its pop song status.
Written by UKO and composed by Toshiya Arai（新井俊也）, Wakita sings about now approaching life with the philosophy of "Don't think...feel!". In other words, she's gonna take things easy, smell the flowers and nonchalantly see how far luck takes her. I just hope that she doesn't go too lightly and opt to cross streets whether or not the "Don't walk" sign is lit. All joking aside though, the video reflects the new approach with Wakita simply wallowing in a relaxing morning with no need to put on the makeup or the fashionable togs. If life were always that laidback...😀
I am not sure what it is but something about "Take it lucky" has an upbeat mid 1980's pop feel to it. It is very light and bright!
ReplyDeleteYes, considering Especia's overall approach, it's not surprising that Wakita has continued with the 80s feeling.
DeleteThat's a good point! I hadn't spent any time with Especia's music, but now that you point that out it actually all makes sense.
ReplyDelete