CD Regular
CD Limited (includes T-shirt)
1) Loser
2) Life Style
3) Fallin
4) Baby I love you so
5) Moonlight
6) Tokyo Life (KAN)
7) SUMMER
8) More than friends
9) Insomnia
10) Nights
11) Memories
12) Kimi ga Inai , Bokura no Nichijou
Shota's last album release was 2021's HOPE .
In Insomnia , 12 songs are included inclusive of 3 prior digital released songs :
- Baby I love you so ; released digitally last Sept
- Loser ; released digitally on 14th June
- Fallin ; released digitally on 31st May
A video was made for Fallin but Shota does not appear in the video .
Touyama Mirei participated in the chorus of Fallin which exemplifies Shota's style with a memorable melody , melancholic lyrics & edgy arrangement .
Moonlight is a song that Shota performed during last year's SHOTA SHIMIZU LIVE TOUR “HOPE” while for More than friends , a video was made for the song .
Unlike Fallin , not only does Shota appeared in More than friends , he also had a hand in directing the video .
Described as a heartbreaking love song about a love for a childhood friend , More than friends is the first video that Shota directed himself . Shota was in charge of its plot + storyboard and even gave acting instructions .
The video for More than friends shows the song's romantic situation , while incorporating a scenery that is reminded of the "good old Japanese summers"
Reaching the landmark 10th album release , Shota Shimizu released his latest album Insomnia which's also to celebrate his 15th anniversary in the business .
Shota's previous studio album HOPE was something I unexpectedly like after I was really disappointed with his previous 3 albums (PROUD , FLY & WHITE) .
Before listening to Insomnia , I did wonder if it's a release that I would like or outright dislike & luckily , I like most of what Insomnia had to offer .
While there's still autotune present in Insomnia , Shota did not overuse it & it felt like 50/50 in terms of autotune usage in his latest album which to me it's a fair compromise .
Not surprisingly , the songs that I enjoy a lot from Insomnia are the non autotune tracks . Moonlight is really fantastic & I had a feeling it was something that probably miss the cut in HOPE but in this case it's Insomnia's gain in having it included .
Even the only cover in Insomnia ie. KAN's Tokyo Life is also good & all the while I feel Shota shines a lot more when comes to ballads , as evident in More than friends & Kimi ga Inai , Bokura no Nichijou .
I have supported Shota for almost the same duration he 1st debuted in 20th Feb 2008 with HOME . While not everything Shota release over the years is great , the ones that stood out to me from him they're still some of the best material found in his discography .
On that note happy 15th anniversary to Shota !