Yuri Shimazaki -- Shien（紫煙）

 

Well, I've brought out "live-action" Kayo Grace Kyoku in a drinking establishment whose bottles are perhaps a little too close for comfort. However, the photo seems to be the right one for this song.

First, just a little background though. I first mentioned singer Yuri Shimazaki（しまざき由理）almost four years ago when she sang one of the ending themes for the popular 70s cop show "G-MEN★75", "Omokage"（面影）. Shimazaki was still technically a teenager when she recorded this moody Mood Kayo in 1975 as if she were a hardened mistress of the mizu shobai. Mind you, she'd been a singer for some time before that.

The majority of her discography going into the 1980s and her early twenties was involved with "G-MEN★75", but in September 1981, Shimazaki released an album "After Hours"（アフター･アワー）which I hadn't heard of. The cover has her sleeping comfortably in some gold leaf or gold lame that makes it appear she's had the most expensive rest in her lifetime. Regardless, one track that I found on "After Hours" is "Shien" (Tobacco Smoke). It stands out for that particular keyboard being used in the intro and throughout the song. Feeling the mellowness of the arrangement by Tadashige Matsui（松井忠重）, I wasn't surprised that "Shien" was created by lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composer Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）who are famous for their languid songs. 

Nope, I wouldn't say that "Shien" is a City Pop or AOR tune or even Mood Kayo by any means. But it does have that metropolitan feel and I do imagine that above scene with Kayo when this is playing in my head. If anything, I would say that the song enters the Fashion Music realm with the way the melody kinda slowly bounces around as if it were in France but at the same time, feels like a stint on the chaise lounge...or a well-worn bar stool. The titular smoke would be rising up very calmly, making all sorts of curls before it dissipates.