Hiromi Iwasaki -- Yugure kara...Hitori（夕暮れから。。。ひとり）(Part 2)

 

Last week, I posted Part 1 of my article on Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美）July 1982 11th studio album "Yugure kara...Hitori"（From Twilight--Alone）, and so today, I'll be completing the release with this Part 2 which is essentially Side B of the original LP. The final track, by the way, was the version of "Madonna Tachi no Lullaby" (聖母たちのララバイ）which was used as the ending theme for "Kayo Suspense Gekijo"（火曜サスペンス劇場.... The Tuesday Night Suspense Movie) on NTV and you can read about that particular song through the link. However, let's get through the remaining four tracks.

Starting off Side B is "China Reef" which was written and composed by Kaoru Ito（伊藤薫）and arranged by Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）, the same duo behind Side A's "Yoake no nai Asa" (夜明けのない朝...Morning Without a Dawn) . Although this time around, it doesn't quite stray into Fashion Music territory like "Yoake no nai Asa", the creators of "China Reef" still maintain that certain jaunty pop elegance that Iwasaki could bat right out of the park. I have no idea where this China reef is located but it apparently is quite the magical place.

I especially love the intro and the rest of "Etranger"（エトランゼ...The Stranger） which has that lovely City Pop vibe and that Iwasaki elegance, to boot. Not surprising, considering that it's Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）behind the melody and arrangement with Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）providing the lyrics about a woman who has gone off to an exotic locale, ostensibly to forget a past romance, and trying to ensure that she remains a stranger in paradise without any further love entanglements. Iwasaki's voice gets to further shine here as it plumbs more depths and heights. The ending is interesting, though, since it almost sounds like it's lifted a City Pop riff via flugelhorn from another song.

All you bass addicts rejoice as we dive into "Go-juu-ni Kai no Off-Stage"（52階のオフ・ステージ...52nd Floor Off-Stage） which is a slightly more down-to-town City Pop tune with Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）behind the lyrics, Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）taking care of the melody and Masaaki Omura（大村憲司）as the arranger. These three were also behind "Single Man" which finishes off Side A, and it's quite the different animal from the 50s pop of that final track, as the boppy urban contemporary takes over here, thanks to the aforementioned bass and the sax solo. Hiromi-chan seems to be singing about analogizing the whole experience of heading up to an exclusive nightclub at the top of a really tall skyscraper and its surrounding tapestry of sunset hues and cityscape as a major love play. 

Ohtsu, Suzuki and Omura also collaborated on this final track of this article, "Heartbreak Twilight"（ハートブレイク・トワイライト）. Beginning with a twangy guitar and keyboards, it's a mid-tempo melancholy melody as a high-flying couple realize that it's time to part ways with each other. In fact, aside from a slight peep into major chord territory before the second verse, "Heartbreak Twilight" keeps up the sad drama with the keyboard arrangement sounding downright sinister and creepy. One would almost think that the boyfriend was Nosferatu.

So, "Yugure kara...Hitori" has plenty of City Pop and elegant pop tunes for all of the Hiromi Iwasaki fans circa early 1980s. As well, the tracks have their own different tempos to keep ears alight. The original LP scored a No. 4 ranking on Oricon.