Beyond the Sea

SINGLE REVIEW
Beni Arashiro - How Are U?

1. How Are U?
2. Surrender
3. Time After Time
4. How Are U? (Instrumental)

This is Beni Arashiro’s 7th single and it was released on September 20, 2006. This single failed to make an appearance on the Oricon Weekly Charts.

How Are U? is a cheerful and uplifting song that turned me into a Beni Arashiro fan after multiple listens. The more I listened to the song, the more began to like it. I loved the song’s upbeat piano arrangement that also included light, but constant beats and turntable scratches. Arashiro’s vocals are very crisp and sound clear throughout the entire song as well. Even though her voice gets kind of muffled during the chorus because of the backtrack, it’s still pretty well done and the chorus is quite catchy so it evens out.

I thought the first B-side, Surrender, was okay. The song is mostly in English with a little Japanese in the chorus. The lyrics weren’t anything special though. However, I did like the pace of the music and the mix of upbeat acoustic guitar and percussion.

On most of Arashiro’s singles, the 3rd track is a cover of a popular American song. I enjoyed her cover of Cyndi Lauper’s 1984 classic Time After Time. She performs the song very well and with nice emotion too. Arashiro’s version is a little slower but it has a stronger acoustic arrangement along with a steady drum beat .

Overall Rating

4 stars