Emi & Gel -- Setsunai Anata（せつないあなた）

 

I guess today is the day where I bring in Japanese covers of overseas tunes. Some minutes ago, I whipped up Yukari Ito's（伊東ゆかり）"Koi suru Hitomi"（恋する瞳）, a version of the Italian "L'amore ha i tuoi occhi" from 1965.

For this one, I'd like to introduce the duo Emi & Gel（エミとゲル）, and as their description states, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Gel Matsuishi（松石ゲル）and vocalist and drummer Emmylee（エミーリー）, who have been involved with other bands, have jumped from the 1960s into the early 21st century with the earlier decade's music to boot. Forming in the summer of 2021, they came out with their debut 7" single later in November, "Bowling Yaro"（ボウリング野郎...The Bowling Guy）.

When I state that Emi & Gel have brought over an earlier decade's music, I am talking about the Group Sounds beat and the psychedelic rock stuff. At least, that is what I'm hearing from the bonus track, "Setsunai Anata" (You're In Pain),  from their December 2023 album "Golden Hits 1965-1971". I can see the hip boots, mini-skirts and all those 60s dances in my head now.

Ah, yes...I did mention the cover thing. Well, it turns out that "Setsunai Anata" is indeed a cover of Brazilian singer-songwriter Roberto "The King" Carlos' "Se Você Pensa" (If You Think) from his 1968 "O Inimitável" album. I haven't heard that original but the above is a 1993 self-cover from his album "Roberto Carlos" which takes things right into AOR or sophisticated pop. Kids, that's why arrangers are so interesting!