Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Urbangarde -- Shinjuku Mon Amour(シンジュク・モナムール)

 

When I first wrote about the wild and eccentric band Urbangarde(アーバンギャルド)earlier this spring, I did note a quote from Wikipedia where the band went "...from bubblegum pop to 80s style synthpop, punk, progressive rock, chiptune, new wave, goth, industrial and heavy metal." As well, Tenma Matsunaga(松永天馬)and Yoko Hamasaki(浜崎容子)have been more than willing to make use of some of the more uncomfortable woes in Japanese society such as suicide and teen pregnancy as their lyrical themes.

One such song is "Shinjuku Mon Amour" (Shinjuku My Love) in which a heartbroken girl opts for suicide one April day as one grand theatre piece. With words and music by Matsunaga, and both him and Hamasaki on vocals, the music is jarringly happy in that techno rock way as if the powers-that-be had Urbangarde come up with a new theme for one of the series in the "PreCure" anime franchise. Along with that anime-happy atmosphere, I can also feel a bit of the old kayo kyoku mixed in there.

"Shinjuku Mon Amour" is a track on Urbangarde's 7th album from December 2015, "Showa Kyu-juu Nen"(昭和九十年...The 90th Year of the Showa Era). There is a site which has translations of the band's songs including "Shinjuku Mon Amour".

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