At the end of February, I posted up an article regarding a not-so-well-known singer called Malja（麻留時夜）with the very involved kanji for her name. She released her one and only album in 1986 titled "Malja" with its own genre mix of tunes which of course included at least a few City Pop takes.
Well, the track I wrote about, "Nice Guy ni Ai wo Komete"（NICE GUYに愛をこめて）, was a pleasant City Pop ballad of the mid-1980s. Now, another track here is a more upbeat song of the genre, "Hadashi de Last Steps" (Last Steps Barefoot). Written and composed by the same guys behind "Nice Guy", lyricist Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and composer Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）, just from what I've heard thus far, it's about a woman dancing with abandon all over the floor to the point that she needs to doff off her heels to continue the fun. Yup, seeing some of those stilettos, I couldn't blame her one bit.
Really nice song... I was enjoying her album just last week, which I hunted down after you posted the other track (thank you, as always!). Slightly-mysterious artists who put out just a single album are always intriguing to me.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are...I'm reminded of a certain Takako Mamiya. 😊
DeleteThere is something about Malja's voice that feels sophisticated and sexy! There is not a hint of high-pitched cuteness or anything like that. No, this song feels very mature.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not an aidoru. She's purely into all sorts of pop.
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