It's been almost four years since the Japanese music world lost singer-songwriter Chika Ueda（上田知華）. In the time that I got to know about her, she's impressed upon me her abilities with balladry, Fashion Music and some City Pop.
Ueda was active for over thirty years, so it should be no surprise that her curiosity would lead her to explore other genres or meld them together. Still, I did get a pleasant surprise listening to one track from her March 1999 album "La La La". "Lena" is a laidback and bouncy soul-pop song with some hip-hop effects. The rhythm is soothing but relentless while the singer propels her lyrics out steadily and breathily. No changes in keys or sudden tangents in arrangement.
This music is relaxing and it does remind me of the type of BGM music I would hear when my wife I went shopping in Yokohama back in the super early 2000's.
ReplyDeleteI would say that this Ueda creation is a very unobtrusive song that would probably be better received than a lot of Muzak.
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