1) If you only knew 2) Stars shining out 3) Dream Catcher 4) Who's gonna stop it ? 5) Cloudy world 6) Cut me free 7) Wish (English ver.) (OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (TRAPNEST)) 8) a little pain (OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (TRAPNEST))
The Cloudy Dreamer EP is OLIVIA's 5th mini album . This 8 track EP was released last Jan on 17th in Japan .
The EP contains 2 singles which OLIVIA contributed to the NANA anime series except the original Japanese version of Wish is not included in the album but rather a full Eng take of the song can be found in the EP .
Stars shining out wasn't released as a single but it received its own PV .
Just like Anna Tsuchiya , I have been a fan of this under-rated , super cool & bilingual girl for quite sometime ever since I discovered OLIVIA's music & the 1st song I heard from her was Wish .
The music style of both ladies are about the same since they both dabbed in pop/rock except OLIVIA's songs tend to contain more Japanese lyrics than Eng ones but unlike Anna , OLIVIA's 1st language is Eng & her 2nd language's Japanese .
As such , I feel that OLIVIA's grasp on Japanese is not as strong as Anna's case since it's the opposite for Anna & it's quite evident in OLIVIA's Japanese dictation .
But in anycase , I also respect OLIVIA's music as she has some great songs going on in her discography .
Track 1 up in the list is a haunting mid tempo no. called If you only knew . The song was a bit boring for my liking when I 1st heard it but it's nice to know that the song gradually begin to build up its momentum in time to come .
The next track's 1 of my fave songs on the EP . Titled Stars shining out , I love the melody that's going on in the song as the synth & guitar riffs really kick in , in this song . Then again I already have like the song on 1st listen .
Track 3's titled Dream Catcher . The song was the theme song of the Nippon Terebi drama Jigoku Shoujo .
Up next's another fave song of mine on the EP . Titled Who's gonna stop it ? , I love the drum beats that's going on in the song & the song's sung in full Eng by OLIVIA . It's a pity that Who's gonna stop it ? didn't received a PV of its own .
Track 5's a mid tempo cheery no. called Cloudy world & the mood switched considerably after you moved from Cloudy World to Cut me free .
Just like If you only knew , Cut me free is another haunting & yet somewhat creepy song on the EP . I do like the piano that's going on in Cut me free but the lyrics somehow creeps me out in a good way & the lyrics are sung in full Eng .
The last 2 tracks are songs that OLIVIA had released as singles under the billing OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (TRAPNEST) . Track 7's her 10th single & it's also 1 1/2 of a double A side since the other A side Starless Night was excluded from the tracklist .
Wish was used as the second opening theme song for the NANA anime series .
The version of Wish found on the EP is sung in full Eng & so it's totally different from the one that she has released as a single . It was a bit odd hearing Wish being sung in Eng because I was very used to the original Japanese take of the song but with that said it's interesting to incorporate full Eng lyrics in her most successful single to date , chart performance wise .
I think it's an awesome way to close off the short EP with a little pain which was used as the ending theme song for the NANA anime series .
I remembered when I 1st heard a little pain , I was charmed by the melody & the haunting & thought provoking lyrics that was thrown in the mix . Not to mention the PV was very interesting to watch .
The melody for a little pain was inspired by a song called Just Missed The Train , originally done by Norwegian singer Trine Rein . Just Missed The Train was later on recorded by Kelly Clarkson for her debut album , Thankful .
The Cloudy Dreamer EP has its own fair share of great mid tempo & ballad songs that're being thrown in for good measures . All 8 songs are well defined in its own right , the only grouse's that I feel OLIVIA should have included Starless Night since it's not really fair to separate 1 1/2 of a great double A side away from Wish .
OLIVIA's going to release her brand new & her 6th mini album titled Trinka Trinka later on in the year & I can't wait for brand new material coming from this really talented lady .
Blog Personnel
Karen Pang
# 10th Jan
# #1 BREAKERZ fan in Singapore since 2008 debut single ♥
# My music blog consists of JPop/Rock singles & albums reviews that I put my heart , efforts & soul into writing them as I'm disgusted with the way that JPop/Rock music is being treated/written/reviewed in Singapore so to the local media (yes you TEENS , Teenage Magazine & The Strait Times) , screw you all . I basically can write better JPop/Rock reviews , period
