Makoto Kawamoto -- Gimme Shelter（ギミーシェルター）

 

When it comes to singer-songwriter Makoto Kawamoto（川本真琴）, her image to me has always been that of a down-home girl-next-door type from the countryside. She struck me more along the lines of fellow pop singer aiko with songs like her big hit "1/2" back in 1997.

But times change and occasionally so does a singer's image. And thus we have Kawamoto and her 8th single from March 2001, "Gimme Shelter". It has nothing to do with the Rolling Stones song, just to make that clear. Written and composed by the singer, Kawamoto certainly glammed up her image with the hair dye among other things, and "Gimme Shelter" is her journey into rock music with a bit of psychedelia thrown in, to boot, and maybe even some Nanase Aikawa（相川七瀬）.

"Gimme Shelter" peaked at No. 50 on Oricon and was a track on Kawamoto's 2nd album, "gobbledygook" which was released in the same month as the single. It did much better by getting up to No. 13. Intriguingly enough, "Gimme Shelter" was used as the campaign song for Manpower Japan offering career management, recruitment and other professional services.