Along with JUN SKY WALKER(S)' "START", I heard another song that got my attention on Tuesday night's "Uta Con"（うたコン）. It's from a completely different genre, and in fact, I'm wondering whether this particular song belongs in a hybridized genre or a 21st-century version of an old genre.
The song of note here is "Nocturne", enka singer Yukino Ichikawa's（市川由紀乃）36th and latest single which was released in March 2024 this year. As written by Goro Matsui（松井五郎）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, it's quite the dramatic number about a dangerous romance, and at points, I was wondering whether this could have been the ideal theme song for a Japanese James Bond movie. But let's not get too crazy about this, I'm telling myself.
It's the arrangement that has gotten my attention nonetheless and with the music video having Ichikawa in her traditional get-up while singing so elegantly and delicately, the enka tropes are in there. On the other hand, there are those shimmering strings and piano that give "Nocturne" that Western orchestral feeling. Of course, there is the title which is definitely non-Japanese. So it does beg the question whether we can call this No. 23-ranking song that mix of enka and pop known as New Adult Music, or considering that enka has evolved and experimented over the past few decades with slightly different arrangements and instruments, could this be an example of Neo-Enka? Or despite the traditionalism, is it just pop?
I think this would make a nice James Bond movie!
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