Korean DJ and producer Night Tempo’s new album, “Neo Standard”, is out now, in September 2023, featuring a golden roster of female singers and aidoru from the 80s and 90s, including Kyon Kyon (小泉今日子), Kaoru Akimoto (秋元薫), Marina Watanabe (渡辺満里奈), Yu Hayami (早見優), Anju Suzuki (鈴木杏樹), Bonnie Pink, Maki Nomiya (野宮真貴), Asako Toki (土岐麻子), Hitomi Tohyama (当山ひとみ) and, of course, Miporin (中山美穂).
The album is very good, but the song that quickly
caught my attention was “Ninna Nanna” (“lullaby” in Italian) by Miho Nakayama,
as per usual these days (I’m constantly obsessed with this woman). Backed by a
relentless deep house arrangement, Miporin almost makes the song sound laidback
with her vocals, which, by now, as we should know, are very different from her
younger days.
Listening to “Ninna Nanna”, it's not like the young
Miporin we all know from the 80s. She now sings in a shaky, vulnerable and, dare
I say, almost tired lower range that can still sound mesmerizing, at least to
me. However, I must confess that sometimes I have mixed feelings about Nakayama’s
current vocal state, especially when she sings her old songs on TV and concerts,
but in newer tunes, probably composed with this specific voice in mind, it
works fine.
“Ninna Nanna” is subtly catchy in its own ways, never
being explosive or anything like that. Night Tempo tends to prioritize a classy, nocturnal approach in his compositions, which connected very well with Nakayama’s
mature rendition of the song.
Lyrics were written by Nakayama herself, while composition
and arrangement were done by Night Tempo.
Hi, Marcos. It should be interesting hearing folks like Hitomi Tohyama and Anju Suzuki again; I saw that Kyon-Kyon has released at least a couple of new songs. As for Miporin, her voice has definitely changed...more obasan（おばさん）now but in a slightly huskier and more worldly Mari Natsuki sort of way.
ReplyDeleteHi, J-Canuck. It's great to hear all those ladies again. There's not a lot of variety to the album, sound-wise, as it's focused more on dance music, but I like it from beginning to end. Kaoru Akimoto is also on the record and she sounds awesome.
DeleteAs for Nakayama, I agree her vocals are more obasan-like these days. Unlike Shizuka Kudo and others aidoru singers of her era, there's a significant loss, but I learned to like it the way it is. By the way, I'm looking forward to her live blu-ray featuring lots of 80s hits (listening to "50/50", "CATCH ME", "Mermaid" and "Virgin Eyes" live in 2023 must be something), which will be released in november. I hope her voice is okay in the concert.