Beyond the Sea ~ The Style. Edition

Nagareboshi (流れ星) is Mika Nakashima’s 30th single and it was released on November 4, 2009. The single reached #10 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 10,539 copies.

I love it when Mika keeps it simple. This cover is classy and elegant!

♦ ♦ ♦

Mika Nakashima loves stars. It doesn’t matter what kind they are: wandering stars, invisible stars, winter stars, etc. SHE LOVES THEM! Ignore the fact that Nagareboshi is her 5th song about stars because it is gorgeous. Then again, so were those past songs (STARS, WILL, Mienai Hoshi, ORION). To me, this song sounded most similar to Mienai Hoshi because it has a minimal sound consisting of pretty piano and strings. The additional guitar riffs and percussion are a teensy bit reminiscent of ORION as well. Anyway, it’s an extremely pleasant song.

I was also quite pleased with the B-side. Nakashima and DAISHI DANCE were a match made in heaven when he remixed SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ so it was great to see them working together again in Memory. You get more of that fantastic crossover sound here but with Nakashima singing in English. Her vocals are a little iffy at times due to her pronunciation but the music makes up for it. Even then, this is the best English singing I have heard from her.

Pros: What a lovely single!
Cons: Stars are neat and all but enough songs about them, OK? *side eye*

Overall Rating

4 stars

Tracklisting

1. Nagareboshi (流れ星)
2. Memory (feat. DAISHI DANCE)
3. Nagareboshi (Instrumental)
4. Memory (feat. DAISHI DANCE) (Instrumental)

The cover of the limited edtion (type C)

CANDY GIRL is Mika Nakashima’s 29th single and it was released on September 30, 2009. The single reached #4 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 19,052 copies.

Mika is a unique and precious little snowflake! *eye roll* I guess if you want to complete the totally overdone and cliché ~circus theme~, you gotta look like a damn clown. First the Over Load cover and now this…way too much make up.

♦ ♦ ♦

To put it bluntly, CANDY GIRL has a cool and sleek jazzy sound that I think is pretty cool. The upbeat big band brass is great and gives the music a theatrical feel. While I did like the music, I was really put off by the constant and extremely repetitve background vocals. I know it’s common to hear them in her songs but this is just overkill. It doesn’t help that nearly half the song is performed by just background vocals. I’m not kidding when I say that. And YES, I’m sure the whole damn universe knows that it’s “like a circus” already.

As for the B-side, I liked it back when it was called Rocking Horse (a song from the MUSIC album lol). Seriously, SMILEY sounds like a pale imitation of that song, right down to the laugh at the very beginning. Nakashima’s vocals are off as well. Her voice is more shrilly than usual and it just bugged me. Once again, the music is good and is the best thing about the song.

Pros: The production value of both songs is commendable.
Cons: Everything else is ANNOYING. I have never disliked a Mika Nakashima single this much before.

BASICALLY…you’re better off just listening to the instrumentals.

Overall Rating

3 stars

Tracklisting

1. CANDY GIRL
2. SMILEY
3. CANDY GIRL (Instrumental)
4. SMILEY (Instrumental)

Tracklisting
1. Over Load
2. No Answer
3. Over Load (Kenmochi Hidefumi Remix)
4. Over Load (Instrumental)
5. No Answer (Instrumental)

This is Mika Nakashima’s 28th single and it was released on May 13, 2009. The single reached #8 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 25,343 copies.

Mika Nakashima is back doing some high quality pop music with Over Load. This song reminds me of LIFE, but it leaves a more lasting impression. The music is a pleasant mix of upbeat strings and synthetic elements, the programmed acoustics being a prominent example. Overall, from the arrangement to the vocals, this is a strong track. Well done, Mika!

The B-side sounds pretty similar, but also little more laid back. No Answer incorporates beats next to the acoustics and flowing strings, but aside from that, I really don’t think much of this song since it’s quite uneventful. It’s not as good as Over Load and it just felt like a watered down version.

The Kenmochi Hidefumi Remix of Over Load is a slower take on the song and features an Hispanic twist within the original arrangement. Aside from the added beats, the instruments sound less programmed as well, especially the guitar. It’s a good remix but feels more like an acoustic version if anything.

Overall Rating

3½ stars

Tracklisting
1. ORION
2. FOCUS
3. ORION (Instrumental)
4. FOCUS (Instrumental)

This is Mika Nakashima’s 27th single and it was released on November 12, 2008. The single reached #6 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 49,958 copies. The title track was used as the theme song for the drama Ryuusei no Kizuna.

I’m really glad to see Mika Nakashima slowly drift back to the soft jazz sound that she does so well and ORION is definitely a step in the right direction. This is a calm, melodic song with great vocals and a rich arrangement. For me, the best thing about the song were the ambient electric guitars. They’re laid back and perfectly characterize the jazzy atmosphere, giving the music some flavor.

The B-side is something I haven’t heard in a while from Nakashima. FOCUS reminded me of the upbeat pop songs of her early career, but better! The arrangement is kind of offbeat with its use of synth but when the brass comes in, it’s very nice. Nakashima displays fast, lower pitched vocals for the verses but she adds a good amount of emphasis and power into her voice for the excellent chorus. I love how she ends the chorus by singing “My focus is on you” too. It’s easily one of her best B-sides and I’m ecstatic that it’s also on her latest album VOICE.

Overall Rating

4½ stars

Tracklisting
1. SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ (SAKURA～花霞～)
2. SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ (DAISHI DANCE)
3. conFusiOn
4. SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ (Instrumental)
5. conFusiOn (Instrumental)

This is Mika Nakashima’s 25th single and it was released on March 12, 2008. The single reached #12 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 24,297 copies.

SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ is a pretty straightforward song, but I did find it to be extremely pretty and reminiscent of past traditional styled ballads like Sakurairo Mau Koro. The lavish string ensemble and piano of the beginning set an relaxing and calm tone for the music. Mika Nakashima’s vocals are vibrant throughout the song and she sings beautifully.

While the original version is nice, I absolutely loved the DAISHI DANCE version of SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ and it’s a lot better. For starters, it’s a lot more upbeat and features gorgeous strings and uplifting piano alongside a nice dance beat. Musically, there’s definitely a lot more going on in this version compared to the original, but it’s actually for the better because everything sounds absolutely stunning. The original, slower paced arrangement has been drastically changed and I loved it. If only this was the actual version of the song since it is leagues better than the original.

The B-side certainly lives up to its title. conFusiOn is well…confusing and it just kind of zooms on by. It’s a strange song that comprises mostly of electric guitar and drums set to an upbeat and poppish pace. You know, like one of her reggae songs, but on steroids because the riffs were so constant. The music sounds pretty unique (for Nakashima’s standards) but disorganized at the same time when it comes to the melody. Despite how rushed the overall package felt, it’s an oddly fun song with a quirky style that could take some time getting used to.

Overall Rating

4 stars

Tracklisting
1. Eien no Uta (永遠の詩)
2. You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To
3. Eien no Uta (Instrumental)

This is Mika Nakashima’s 24th single and it was released on October 3, 2007. The single reached #5 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 13,628 copies. The title track was used as the theme song for the movie Southbound.

I was really put off by the opening English dialogue in Eien no Uta because it was kind of unnecessary. Some people thought that a man speaking with a thick Jamaican accent added flavor and style to the song, while others thought the exact opposite. I’m kind of stuck in the middle on this issue so I won’t go any further into it. Now onto the actual song, which is nice addition to the “reggae themed” work she has done in the past. Even though I didn’t find this song as good as MY SUGAR CAT or Seppun, I am still impressed by Mika Nakashima’s gorgeous vocals and the use of high pitched saxophone combined with calming electric guitar chords.

The next track is collaboration with the band Katteni-Shiyagare and it’s a cover of Cole Porter’s You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To. Nakashima definitely gives her best English singing performance in this song and she sings the track with surprising ease. The music is very jazzy and contains a very strong brass arrangement with thumping drums. This track originally appeared on Katteni Shiyagare’s latest album LET’S GET LOST which was released on July 18th.

Overall Rating

4 stars

Tracklisting
1. LIFE
2. LIFE (ballad)
3. IT’S TOO LATE
4. LIFE (Instrumental)
5. IT’S TOO LATE (Instrumental)

This is Mika Nakashima’s 23rd single and it was released on August 22, 2007. The single reached #3 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 138,987 copies. The title track was used as the theme song for the drama Life.

It looks like Mika Nakashima has returned to a more ‘mainstream’ sound with LIFE. At the same time, the song has a distinct early 90s pop feel to it. I thought the song’s piano intro was gorgeous and it flows into the first verse backed up by bass beats. This is a pleasant song but I’ve heard better from Nakashima. I also noticed how this song sounded similar to the works featured on her MUSIC album.

The next track is the ballad version of LIFE. To be honest, the song doesn’t sound good as a ballad at all. It’s clunky and the fast paced vocals of the chorus sound very bland because everything is slowed down. I do admit that the ballad version’s use of the piano and strings was fantastic, but that was the only thing I really liked.

Track 3, IT’S TOO LATE, is definitely a song that could have been featured on her last album YES. The music is very jazzy and combines quick electric guitar riffs with light percussion. The bridge was the highlight of this track because it’s exciting and full of style. The song is almost like a cross between BLACK & BLUE and SEVEN, combining ragtime blues and jazz.

Overall Rating 

3½ stars