CD
CD + DVD
1) Yours Forever Feat Aisho Nakajima
2) 1LDK
3) stay with me
4) tonight -interlude-
5) too late
6) daijyobu
7) Kimi no Tonari
8) KARMA KATRINA
9) F ME -interlude-
10) BOi ByE
11) No No No
12) life goes on
13) Ikiteru Dake de Gohobi
Aoyama's last studio album release was 2018's HIGHSCHOOL GAL .
Prior to the release of Scorpion Moon , 4 pre digital released songs are included in the new album :
- 1LDK ; released digitally on Nov 2019 . The song is based on Aoyama's experience living with her boyfriend for the 1st time
- Ikiteru Dake de Gohobi ; released digitally on Dec 2019
- Yours Forever Feat Aisho Nakajima ; Released digitally on 20th Aug
Yours Forever is described as an R&B song with English lyrics about ultimate love
- stay with me ; lead album promo track , released digitally on 15th Oct & has a video made
For Track 6 daijyobu , Tokai Radio has been playing the song on air for a year+ .
And in a 1st for Aoyama , 3 tracks in Scorpion Moon include English explicit lyrics :
- KARMA KATRINA
- F ME -interlude-
- No No No ; a video was made for the song but it's not included in the album's DVD
Aoyama Thelma's new album Scorpion Moon brings a smooth and mellow R&B sound and it's filled with different messages - the enjoyment of music , the kindness of people & the fun of life that Aoyama wants to deliver to those living hard every day .
Frankly Aoyama's last 2 studio albums 10TH DIARY & HIGHSCHOOL GAL were hard for me to connect musically but luckily I didn't face the same issue regarding Scorpion Moon .
In Aoyama's new album , the mid tempo no.s & ballads are the ones that she really shine in vocally while something about the uptempo no.s just didn't sit right with me .
It was a bit surprising to hear English explicit lyrics included in the 3 above mentioned songs . Even though Aoyama's bilingual in both English & Japanese , to hear them in the songs is another thing & that felt a bit weird to me .
Aside from that , I do feel that Scorpion Moon is a worthy listen & as I said before even though it has been a long time since Aoyama hasn't been all that in the music business , she still release some pretty good music which has been overlooked by the general public for the longest time & that's really unfortunate as there's more to her than just solely Soba ni Iru ne .
Koda is releasing 2 songs digitally back to back this & next month , starting with 4 MORE followed by 100 no Kodoku Tachi e .
100 no Kodoku Tachi e will be released digitally next Mon on 6th Dec ie. Koda's debut anniversary .
Both 4 MORE & 100 no Kodoku Tachi e are not included in Koda's BEST ~2000-2020~ compilation that will be released next Mon .
Despite being a digital release , Koda made a video for 4 MORE just like the last 3 songs she released digitally .
When I 1st heard 4 MORE , I wasn't sure what to think about it but the more I listen to it , the more I like it .
4 MORE follows almost in the same music vein as HUSH & Killer MonsteR in that all the songs have very simple if not bare minimum instrumentals .
And just like Doo-Bee-Doo-Bop , 4 MORE is also under 3 mins but a song does not need to be long to catch hold of the listener's attention .
Promo wise , Over the Season was chosen to be used in the ads of Akai Kitsune Midori no Tanuki instant udon .
Saito released 3 songs digitally last month & Over the Season was released less than 2 weeks after Asayake .
Unlike Asayake , Over the Season is a lot more laidback which fits promoting the Akai Kitsune Midori no Tanuki instant udon ads well & how can anyone not be charmed on how cute the digital cover's ?
The 3rd song Saito released digitally after Over the Season ie. Neboketa Machi ni will be reviewed soon .
CD
CD + DVD
1) FRONTIER
2) Yumemiru Shojo Jairarenai ~Yumemiru Shounen~
3) Life Goes On
4) TEST
5) Lost love song 【III】
6) Risuke ~Kimi no Sei~
7) East Area -Kai-
8) Yuiitsu Muni
9) Lost love song 【III】 -Saretagawa-
10) Yakousei
The release of FRONTIER comes in about a year+ since Hilcrhyme's previous album THE MC .
FRONTIER includes 10 songs , including Lost love song 【III】 & Lost love song 【III】 -Saretagawa- .
Track 2 Yumemiru Shojo Jairarenai ~Yumemiru Shounen~ is a rap cover of Aikawa Nanase's debut single Yumemiru Shojo Jairarenai .
Lost love song 【III】 was 1st released digitally on 5th May & it's described as a song about a sad woman's heart .
For Lost love song 【III】 -Saretagawa- , it was used as the ending theme song for the Saretagawa no Blue drama & 1st released digitally on 14th July , to coincide with the drama's release .
Unlike Lost love song 【III】 , the Saretagawa version was written from a male perspective .
Track 7 East Area -Kai- is a re-recorded version of East Area which is still 1 of my favourite Hilcrhyme B-sides to date & Yuiitsu Muni was already included in STAR ~Remake Best 3~ prior to the release of FRONTIER .
3 album tracks FRONTIER , Yumemiru Shojo Jairarenai ~Yumemiru Shounen~ & Yakousei all had videos made but they are all not included in the album's DVD .
Reaching the 10th album milestone with the release of FRONTIER , it's something that Hilcrhyme hard earned but for their latest album release , it feels a bit short changed to me .
FRONTIER feels like their self titled album 2.0 where the album structure for both is almost the same ie. re-recorded songs mixed in together with new album tracks which's very different from THE MC .
I think Hilcrhyme didn't want to go the mini album release route once more because if the re-recorded songs are excluded from FRONTIER , it would be as so .
Hopefully their next studio album would not be like this . If I still enjoy listening to THE MC , I don't see why they have to undertake this route again .
This song is 1 of 5 newly recorded tracks that're all included in Koda's BEST ~2000-2020~ compilation that will be released on 6th Dec ie. her debut anniversary .
Koda's cover of Maekawa Yoko's Cutie Honey is considered as 1 of her signature songs so it's really nice for her to re-record it & for this version , it's the same version that Koda did during her highly acclaimed KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Black Cherry~ .
Unlike the version included in Koda's 11th single LOVE & HONEY , Cutie Honey BEST ~2000-2020~ ver. is more laidback & jazz influence which's very different from the version that I'm used to but it's still refreshing to hear a different take of the song .
Prior to the release of BEST ~2000-2020~ , Koda will release a new song 4 MORE digitally next week on 15th Nov & also 100 no Kodoku Tachi e that will be out digitally on the same day as the compilation album .
Both 4 MORE & 100 no Kodoku Tachi e are not included in BEST ~2000-2020~ .
Promo wise , Asayake was used to promote the movie Riku wa Yowakunai .
Asayake is the 1st of 3 songs that Saito released digitally last month & as the song title suggests , it's a mid tempo laidback song that's very radio friendly but catchy .
I think Asayake is 1 of the songs that's easy to like on 1st listen & that's what I got when I 1st heard it .
The other 2 songs that Saito released digitally last month ie. Over the Season & Neboketa Machi ni will be reviewed soon .
Produced by UTA , Beautiful World derives from the theme beautiful world & not so beautiful world co-exist by supporting each other .
This's Yamapi's 1st song that was released on various online music subscription services & he 1st performed Beautiful World during his 1st online streamed concert TOMOHISA YAMASHITA First Online Live ~Beautiful World~ .
Beautiful World represents a new chapter in Yamapi & I think with this song it's fitting to describe his situation after he left Johnny & Associates last year .
When Yamapi was under Johnny & Associates , his solo career has been real patchy even though there're some really good songs in his discography but due to internal factors , he wasn't able to do more than what he should have been able to . I do hope that now music wise he will be able to do what he wants to do & not be slow downed by road blocks any longer .
