Yurie Kokubu -- Dear~How To Love You

 

I think as much as 1970s City Pop had certain distinctive arrangements and sounds (the keyboard haze effect) and the 1980s version also had their own fascinating tones (the sparkling mineral water glissando), there is also something about the 1990s version. And yes, I know that there will be some who disagree that the final decade of the 20th century in Japan had City Pop especially with the economic downturn there but I can't deny that there was rich urban contemporary music happening. The music industry including certain singers and producers probably didn't get the memo from Parliament or the stock exchanges.

For me anyways, there was that certain big brassiness and especially sparkly synthesizers that marked that time. Maybe the Bubble had burst, but musically in some corners, it was still living life large in the big city. Time to hit the New York Grill for dinner? Sure, let me dust off my VISA Gold!

Anyways, that's the buzz I get from Yurie Kokubu's（国分友里恵）"Dear~How To Love You", the first track from her 4th album, "Do You Love Me?" from August 1991. Written by her old bandmate from SHAMBARA, Kaoru Akimoto（秋元薫）, and composed by Hitoshi Haba（羽場仁志）, it starts out innocently enough but then the horns rev up and we're off to West Shinjuku for that medium-rare steak. And yep, the brassiness and sparkle are there. Plus, Kokubu seems to be really exercising those golden vocals more than ever.