ELAIZA -- Catch Up SANTA

 

We've got KKP representative Kayo Grace Kyoku all gussied up for Christmas as she's traveling in a sleigh, so that does mean Christmas Eve is here. I'm under the assumption that Santa Claus is already making his way over Japan and much of the Pacific at this point while we here in the Eastern Standard Time zone are racing around for that last-minute shopping. Did my final forage in the supermarket earlier this morning.

Model/actress/singer Elaiza Ikeda（池田エライザ）was someone that I had first encountered earlier this year on the "Premium Talk" segment of NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）show, and I found out that she has contributed some music to the Neo-City Pop field. At around the same time, I realized that ELAIZA had also released a single back in December 2022 just in time for the Yuletide titled "Catch Up SANTA". 

Feeling pretty soulful, Justin Reinstein and Mayu Wakisaka were behind the music while ELAIZA and Yui Mugino took care of the lyrics. The singer gets all sultry here and "Catch Up SANTA" sounds like something that Mariah Carey would cover, and apparently, the video director must like Chippendales.

Jazztronik feat. ELAIZA -- New World

 

On a recent episode of "Asaichi"（あさイチ）when they were holding their Friday "Premium Talk" segment, the interviewee was model/actress/singer Elaiza Ikeda（池田エライザ）who usually goes by her mononym of ELAIZA. I've heard the name before but never saw what she looked like. As the interview went on, we discovered that back in 2018, she'd gotten the gig as host of the NHK BS show "The Covers" where singers of all stripes give their own twist on cover versions of their favourite songs. And apparently, ELAIZA herself got to perform some of her own covers a few months into her time and people found out that she has a pretty good set of smoky vocals. Above you can hear her take on Miyuki Nakajima's（中島みゆき）"Jidai"（時代）although that was on a different program.

A few years later, ELAIZA released her own debut single and album, and then recently, I came across this digital single released in September 2024 which has her collaborating with the fluid collective known as Jazztronik with organizer Ryota Nozaki（野崎良太）providing the melody while ELAIZA and Sonomi Tameoka took care of the lyrics. The Neo-City Pop and club music vibe reminded me of those early 2000s when bird and Misia held centre court for J-R&B. 

Jazztronik has worked with other singers such as Miki Imai（今井美樹）and Giovanca. In a way, there's a parallel between ELAIZA and Imai in that both ladies started out in the modeling and acting field only to fall into singing a few years into their career.