CD + DVD
1) smile
2) Wash Your Hands
3) smile (Original Karaoke)
4) Wash Your Hands (Original Karaoke)
A limited time unit Twenty★Twenty was formed which consists of 75 people from 14 different Johnny groups & 1 soloist . Mr. Children's vocalist Sakurai Kazutoshi , who himself is active in a lot of charity work wrote & composed smile .
Sakurai Kazutoshi commented , "I am very honoured to be able to participate in this project in the form of providing music . I could write the lyrics because it was based on the assumption that Johnny's would sing this song . "
One of the lines from smile goes , "But don't forget [I can see your smile] That's the only thing I need to live ." , Sakurai Kazutoshi added , "I think there’s no one better than Johnnys' singing this phrase ."
This is not the 1st time Johnnys has released a charity song . In December 1997 , J-FRIENDS was formed in support of the Great Hanshin- Awaji earthquake which occurred in January 1995 . The unit was active until 2003 & sales proceeds were donated to disaster relief activities .
The late Johnny Kitagawa who passed away last year , envisioned a grand project to form a limited time unit Twenty★Twenty for this year's 2020 Tokyo Olympics . With his passing and the Olympics postponed due to COVID-19 , Takizawa Hideaki has now fulfilled the late Johnny Kitagawa's dream with a different purpose & with newly debuted artists included for this project .
smile was made available digitally on 22nd June prior to its physical CD release on 12th Aug . smile will be available for sale until end of 2020 .
This music release is part of Johnny & Associates' Smile Up! Project being conducted to help prevent the current COVID-19 pandemic . Sale proceeds from smile will be donated to help finance medical care support .
Twenty★Twenty participants include :
- V6
- KinKi Kids
- ARASHI
- NEWS
- Kanjani∞
- KAT-TUN
- Yamashita Tomohisa
- Hey ! Say ! JUMP
- Kis-My-Ft2
- Sexy Zone
- A.B.C-Z
- Johnny's WEST
- King & Prince
- SixTONES
- Snow Man
Other than smile , the appropriate named Wash Your Hands is included as the B-side in the single .
I'm not so familiar with Mr. Children's music but despite this , it's very evident that smile has Mr. Children influences being felt all over the song .
Lyrically , smile is very touching & even though COVID-19 has turned the whole world upside down for 2020 , there's still light at the end of the tunnel .
To get so many Johnnys to participate in the recording of smile , it's no easy feat . Despite this , it's heartening to see so many of them coming together for a good cause & during such a crisis , it can either bring out the best or worst in humanity and luckily in this case , it's the former .
CD
CD + DVD and CD + Blu-ray
This's ARASHI's 1st physical CD release of 2020 .
Created by Yonezu Kenshi , Kite last year was chosen to be used as NHK 2020 Song to support the 2020 Olympics Paralympics which originally supposed to be held this year before it was postponed next year due to COVID-19 .
ARASHI performed Kite for the 1st time at last year's 70th NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen .
On the collaboration , member Aiba Masaki commented , "It is filled with a kindness that will save people who are working hard . I was moved by singing it . " Meanwhile , Yonezu Kenshi said , "I created this song wishing that it will be long-lasting . I hope it will be heard widely ."
Kite was released in 4 versions , CD , CD + DVD and CD + Blu-ray and a fanclub version (a 1st for an ARASHI release) .
This's ARASHI's 2nd single to get a Blu-ray release after last Sept's BRAVE .
The drawing illustration found in Kite covers were created by leader Ohno Satoshi .
The CD only version of Kite includes 3 B-sides :
- Journey to Harmony
ARASHI performed Journey to Harmony last Nov for the 1st time during Emperor Naruhito's enthronement ceremony & unlike other songs in the single , there's no original karaoke included for Journey to Harmony
- Sounds of Joy
- Bokura no Hibi
To say that I really like Kite the 1st time ARASHI performed the song for the 1st time at last year's 70th NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen is an understatement as it's very different from their past ballads .
Getting Yonezu Kenshi to create Kite for ARASHI was a great move as you can feel & hear the influences of his own music in ARASHI's latest release .
With Johnnys not having much personal input in their material unlike other musicians when comes to writing or composing , the next alternative is for them to get other musicians to work on their music .
In fact some of my favourite ARASHI songs were created by other musicians themselves , such as Aozora Pedal (created by Suga Shikao) , Natsu Hayate (created by Yuzu) & now Kite .
B-sides wise , it's very evident that Journey to Harmony is the best out of the lot as it has such a grand opera like sound . It's very unusual for ARASHI to exclude the instrumental of a B-side & this's the 1st time I've seen this .
Why I'm not sure but I think it's a bit of a pity that Journey to Harmony been 'demoted' to being a B-side cos it has great potential to stand side by side with Kite as an A-side .
Perhaps due to this , the other 2 B-sides felt overshadowed by Journey to Harmony quite a great deal as I feel both Sounds of Joy & Bokura no Hibi don't really stand out that much .
On that note , I think Kite is on its way to probably become ARASHI's 1st million selling single as it deserves so . It's a bit surprising that this has not happen to them yet as prior to Kite , their best selling single was their debut , A・RA・SHI .
ARASHI's next release ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5×20 DVD & Blu-ray will be made available next month on 30th Sept .
Saito's latest new release was chosen to be used in the ads of AC Japan Moudouken / Japan Guide Dog Association & this comes in back to back after he released Jun Pu last month digitally as well .
Isshona Futari is possibly 1 of Saito's most light hearted & shortest song he has come up in recent years with it being under 3 mins .
Despite this , something about Isshona Futari showcases a more carefree side of Saito unlike his other songs where they're a lot more musically layered .
It reminds to be seen what Saito will come up with next but maybe a new physical CD single release ? If so , his next single will see Saito reach a milestone in his career ie. his 50th single which he should commemorate it as so .
Prior to the release of Dreamed a Dream , ayumi's previous song Ohia no Ki was released digitally on 5th July .
Composed by Komuro Tetsuya , Komuro composed some of ayumi's past songs which included A Song is born , crossroad , Love song , You & Me .
To say that both Ohia no Ki & Dreamed a Dream are completely different is an understatement .
In Dreamed a Dream , it's more fast paced , upbeat & in your face even though it might sound a bit dated .
Still for ayumi to release 2 new songs digitally in the same month last month , it's a nice surprise especially since in recent years , her musical output has not been as robust as once was .
Both Ohia no Ki & Dreamed a Dream will be included in a separate physical CD , as part of the fanclub release of ayumi hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVE 2019-2020 ~Promised Land~ A DVD + Blu-ray which will be released next Wed .
This's ARASHI's 2nd original song they released digitally since last Nov's Turning Up .
It's no open secret that I'm not a fan of ARASHI's Westernised sounding songs that they've been releasing digitally since last Nov & that also includes the songs of theirs that so far have received the Reborn treatment with the exception of Face Down .
I know ARASHI's target audience for the material they released digitally so far are different as compared to their domestic fans & some like myself feel aligned in a not good way .
That said , if not for the over heavy usage of autotune & heavily English driven lyrics applied to IN THE SUMMER , I probably might like the song a bit more .
Then again the fact that ARASHI was still able to make a video for IN THE SUMMER despite the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic , it's quite a nice surprise .
ARASHI's 58th single Kite was released last month on 29th July & I will review this single soon .
This collaboration song will also be included in ATSUSHI's 4th solo album 40 ~forty~ that will be released on 4th Nov .
Promo wise , Osaka Tokyo was chosen to promote the Hollywood Dream ride at Universal Studios Japan from 8th Aug to 29th Nov .
Osaka Tokyo is described as an energetic dance number about the feelings of a man & woman as their feelings get stronger and they are unable to see each other .
It's been 14 years since ATSUSHI & Koda released their last collaboration song WON'T BE LONG under the name EXILE & KODA KUMI in 2006 . They decided to work together again after participating in last year's music festival ASEAN-Japan Music Festival 2019 in VIETNAM .
Last Nov , Koda was a special guest in EXILE ATSUSHI SPECIAL NIGHT IN OKINAWA & performed Osaka Tokyo with ATSUSHI for the 1st time .
A video was made for Osaka Tokyo but it will be not included in 40 ~forty~ .
It's hard to believe it has been so long since ATSUSHI & Koda worked on something together but Osaka Tokyo was worth the long wait as it's such a fun catchy upbeat no. that's perfect for Summer .
Let alone both artistes' vocals compliment each other really well . I know some might feel that Osaka Tokyo sounds a bit dated but I personally have no issues with it .
I just hope I wouldn't need to wait for another 14 more years before both musicians decide to work on something new again .
1) Collapsing
2) STORY
3) Diminish
4) Kyohan
5) SCREAM
6) Silly
7) All Through The Night
8) Kyoso Natsu
9) Monolith
10) My Love
This's AKi's 1st full length album since the release of his 2015 / debut solo album ARISE .
Collapsed Land includes AKi's debut physical single release STORY , 3 digital released songs & 1 B-side .
Prior to the release of Collapsed Land , these 3 songs were released digitally :
- Monolith
- SCREAM
- Collapsing
All Through The Night was originally included as the 2nd B-side in Monolith .
Track 4 Kyohan has vocal chorus contributed by LUNA SEA's vocalist Kawamura Ryuichi .
It's hard to believe it has been so long since AKi last put out a full length album but that's not to say he has been absent after releasing ARISE as in between , he released his 1st mini album EPHEMERAL in the same year as ARISE alongside with concert video releases & singles , be it physical or digital .
New material wise , the only new song in Collapsed Land I'm not a fan of is Silly but the other 4 new songs are pretty good .
I thought it's real cool for LUNA SEA's Ryuichi to guest sing together with AKi in Kyohan while something about Diminish is quite spellbinding in a good way .
Kyoso Natsu is a fun peppy upbeat song while My Love is the closest I associate it being a ballad in Collapsed Land .
I only wish that AKi included more slower songs / ballads in Collapsed Land as he sounds great doing both .
Other than that , I thought Collapsed Land is overall a pretty good follow up to ARISE . I still remembered when I 1st heard AKi sing & let alone for him to be the 1st member from SID to go solo , I was really surprised as before that , I thought only vocalist Mao has vocal chops to speak of in SID but guess not .
Here's hoping I wouldn't need to wait another 5 more years for a new AKi solo album release .
CD
CD + DVD A
CD + DVD B
Yamapi's 1st single release of 2020 , Nights Cold was chosen as the ending theme song to promote the drama The Head which Yamapi & other international actors starred in .
The jacket covers of Nights Cold emphasises the colour green & it features Yamapi with a cool gaze .
Released on 12th June via Hulu Japan & HBO Asia , The Head is described as a survival mystery drama set in Antarctica . A team of researchers break all contact with the outside world to go on a mission under extreme circumstances . After 6 months , the team's colleagues go to where they had been researching to find that the members have died or are missing . Yamapi plays Kobayashi Aki , a young microbiologist with a bright future .
For the drama , Yamapi cowrote Nights Cold . He said , "When I heard about this tie-up , I was moved to tears . While cherishing the drama's worldview , I wrote the lyrics comparing that to love & unveiling its mysteries . It would make me happy if many people all over the world would listen to Nights Cold ."
2 B-sides are available in the CD only version of Nights Cold :
- Linaria
- Basics
In the Nights Cold video , Yamapi becomes an android who falls in love with a human being .
1 thing that struck me about Nights Cold is that it's quite heavily English driven , lyrics wise but luckily the English lyrics do make sense & it's heartening to see how much Yamapi has improved on his English dictation & pronunciation significantly over the years .
The 2 Nights Cold's B-sides are quite ok even though I would have prefer at least 1 of them would be a ballad to contrast things .
It reminds to be seen what Yamapi's next music move would be but I hope it will be a new studio album . 2018's UNLEASHED was quite a nice enjoyable surprise & hopefully his next solo album would be able to match up to what UNLEASHED was if not better .
