Beyond the Sea

SINGLE REVIEW
Anna Tsuchiya feat. AI - Crazy World

1. Crazy World
2. What you gonna do? / Anna Tsuchiya
3. Crazy World (FPM Hyper Society mix)

This is Anna Tsuchiya’s 8th single and it was released on June 11, 2008. This single reached #19 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 10,488 copies.

Anna Tsuchiya and AI collaborate once again for this strange rock and R&B hybrid. For those who don’t know who AI is, she is a well-known J-urban artist who sings as well as raps. Crazy World switches between the two genres at different intervals and I liked the song’s overall flow. The verses are calm but feature various synthetic sounds and beats with AI saying some random stuff in the background. When the chorus arrives, the music and Tsuchiya’s vocals become more aggressive and the electric guitars come into play. The bridge is also divided into two parts: there is a short electric guitar solo which is followed by a rapping section by AI. In the end, I thought that this wasn’t a bad collaboration.

The B-side is performed solely by Tsuchiya and it’s in English. What you gonna do? is definitely more pop than her previous works and it also has that light R&B sound previously heard in Crazy World thanks to the frequent beats. The chorus later adds some electric guitar and strings, adding a little more variety into the music.

The FPM Hyper Society mix of Crazy World is a dance club take of the original and it was remixed by Fantastic Plastic Machine. It is very heavy with the synth and the pace of the music has been taken up a notch as well. I thought this was an okay remix, but it was too long for my tastes (I get bored with almost any remix that’s over 6 minutes long).

Overall Rating 

3½ stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Anna Tsuchiya - cocoon

1. cocoon
2. u
3. Guys

This is Anna Tsuchiya’s 7th single and it was released on January 30, 2008. This single reached #19 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it sold 4,527 copies in its first week.

After making a little bit of pop music with her last single BUBBLE TRIP / sweet sweet song, Anna Tsuchiya makes a triumphant return to rock with cocoon. Despite being a medium tempo song, the riffs are pretty aggressive and seem to be grunge inspired. Like many of her older songs, the lyrics are very bilingual and contain more English than Japanese. I liked the catchiness of the verses because of Tsuchiya’s interesting word choice and her rhyming of them.

The first B-side, u, is more upbeat and has a punkish sound that’s mixed with industrial styled synth. It’s also entirely in English. The riffs that appear later on are simple but they are quite consistent and have good pace. Tsuchiya’s vocals are stronger in this song too, especially in the chorus.

The next track is only available on the CD only edition of the single. Guys is an awesome song with great lyrics than have an attitude to them. Out of all the songs on the single, this one has the most complex arrangement. The music is more acoustic based and I liked the parts of the song where the tempo slowed down and then quickly sped up again to match Tsuchiya’s changing vocals. This song is also in English.

Overall Rating

3½ stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Anna Tsuchiya - BUBBLE TRIP / sweet sweet song

1. BUBBLE TRIP
2. sweet sweet song
3. BUBBLE TRIP -STUDIO APARTMENT Remix-

This is Anna Tsuchiya’s 6th single and it was released on August 1, 2007. This single reached #21 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 8,569 copies.

Even though Anna Tsuchiya’s first language is Japanese, a majority of her songs are in English. However, BUBBLE TRIP features a little Japanese in it. This song is probably her most unique to date because of its funky pop style that’s devoid of the hard rock sound of her previous singles. Like the song’s title implies, this is a trippy song but also a very fun one in the same respect.

The 2nd track, sweet sweet song, was a pleasant surprise. Just like BUBBLE TRIP, it’s different from her previous works. This is a cheerful song with great acoustics and a catchy chorus. The music is a little rockish, but still very pop.

The STUDIO APARTMENT Remix of BUBBLE TRIP is interesting to say the least. I haven’t heard her remix album yet so this was a new experience for me because it was the first time I heard a ‘club sound’ from her. The remix is a little too long winded for me but I thought it was okay in the end. Changing a 3 minute song to a 6 minute remix isn’t a good idea sometimes.

Overall Rating

4 stars