Music Review//Shiina Ringo - Irohanihoheto/Kodoku no Akatsuki
It’s
about time - and 15th career anniversary or not the return of the
much discussed Shiina Ringo is heralded with this single, Irohanihoheto. But does it match the highs of career best? Only a
listen can see…
Those
organ keys hark back to the b-sides (remember them?) of the early ‘noughties’ -
or whatever you call that great unnamed decade - and the beats are just as
you’d expect from the woman who famously sawed a car in half for a video and
kicked a sheet a glass whilst dressed as an S'N' M nurse for another PV, only
the fact this is a decade later is telling.
There’s
a certain sophistication to the offbeatness the urgency of the music draws you
in like an asteroid to a particularly welcoming black hole. The vocals, as
unique as ever and the oft copied (but never successfully) mannerisms are all
in place and it’s as if she’s never been away with another band for the past
almost-decade.
Listeners
in Japan will have already heard both the songs on the single on television as
they are both tie-in’s for drama theme songs – Irohanihoheto on ‘Kamo, Kyoto e Iku.
~Shinise Ryokan no Okami Nikki~’
and Kodoku no Akatsuki on NHK E-Tele’s
‘SWITCH Interview Tatsujintachi. The
latter song is a slower, less frenetic song with a more traditional setting and
vocals more suited to her poppier moments in Tokyo Jihen. It’s a good companion
but the highlight of the two is the former.
Reviewed by Seba Gahan.
