Sakamoto Maaya – Kazeyomi Review
January 17, 2009
Hello! I couldn’t resist myself after listening to this beautiful CD, I just HAD to review it! Absolutely.
First, a small introduction, Sakamoto Maaya is a singer born in 1980, who first debuted in 1996 as the voice actress for the character of Hitomi in Tenkuu no Escaflowne, and also sung the opening theme of said anime, the very famous (back in my day, hey, I’m old school, baby!) “Yakusoku wa Iranai” after the relative success of both the song and the anime she continued to sing many theme songs for it, and also recorded her first albums, with the aid of famous composer Kanno Youko. Recently, the Sakamoto – Kanno partnership broke, and Maaya went on to work with different people. Her latest full album, “Kazeyomi” or Wind-reading, is a beautiful return to her old sound, and it was highly expected by all of her fans (such as myself).
Sakamoto’s voice can be best described as sweet and soft. She sings in a high range, and most of her songs are pop but influenced with very interesting elements that can give the songs an ethereal or surreal feel. I’ve been a fan of Maaya ever since around 1999 or so, and she’s still one of my absolutely favorite singers, hands down. I’m not into anime anymore, but even so, I always manage to trace all of her releases, because I absolutely love her original style.
Ok, so with that intro, let’s get into the album!
First of all, I LOVE the cover! It’s absolutely beautiful, and dreamlike, even, with that weathercock in her hand, which isn’t even a cock but a beautiful golden dove with a star in its beak. Also, the road climbing up the hill, is very surreal, and I like it.
Ok, so let’s start with the songs, finally!
1. Vento: I don’t have a clue of what language this is in, but it’s reminiscent of Maaya’s old anime work in a way, because its sound is so ethereal and peculiar that it doesn’t really fit too well in Jpop, but it’s still a beautiful song in its own right. At first, I thought that it was an instrumental intro, like the one in her Lucy album, with beautiful strings and a subtle piano, but around halfway, her soft dreamy voice starts singing in a language unknown to me XD I guess it might be portuguese or something like that. This is a very beautiful song indeed, and a great opener that gives us a taste of what we’ll find in this album.
Rating: 4,5 out of 5
2. Triangler: It’s not that I’m crazy about Kanno, really, but I was very excited to listen to this song when it was first announced! I wanted to hear Maaya’s classic sound, that I’d fallen in love with, but Triangler is none of that XD Actually, most Maaya fans HATE this song to death, but I frankly don’t understand why, I think that it’s a wonderful song, very powerful and beautiful. I also love how Maaya pushed her range a lot, it sounds quite difficult to sing, but she still manages to get it right! Well, click on the song’s title, watch the Pv and listen to the song and you’ll get your own opinion about this one…
Rating: 4,5 out of 5
3. Kazemachi jet – Kazeyomi Edition-: The second single included in this album, is Maaya’s title song for the “Tsubasa” anime, Kazemachi jet. This song, unlike Triangler, which was left just as is, was completely rearranged for the album, and it sounds even better than the original! It starts with a capella lines, which make me melt, and then the guitar and the fiddle kick in, and they sound beautiful! The difference from the original are largely this instruments, and the bridge with the fiddle solo is lovely! This version sounds more laid back and personal, which works great for it, without losing any of its fun. Kudos for making an amazing song even better!
Rating: 5 out of 5
4. Remedy: I love this song! It’s the second original after Vento, and it sounds very much like the old Maaya we learned to love. It’s simple, guitar driven and sweet. But that works so well for it! Definitely a song that can bring a smile to your face, no matter what. I’m glad to hear this kind of songs again on a Maaya album, after missing them from her 2 previous ones.
Rating: 4 out of 5
5. Ame ga Furu: Maaya’s latest single. I really like this song, because it sounds very nostalgic, just like the rain. The PV is also very pretty and kind of dark. This song starts with a beautiful harp and a haunting feel to it, but it builds in the chorus, when it sounds a little angry. I like the totally random electric guitar bridge XD This song is all over the place, music wise, but in a great way! It’s like it needed all those elements anyway, so it sounds very good.
Rating: 4,5 out of 5
6. Get no Satisfaction!: This song begins very upbeat, reminding me of some of her perky works from the “Shounen Alice” album, it retains that atmosphere, but it lacks something, IMO. It’s the only song so far that I’ve found sounding generic. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, only I wish it had a bit more spirit. It sounds like an anime opening XD
Rating: 3,5 out of 5
7. Ao no Ether: This song is a cover. Maaya wrote the lyrics and the song was originally performed by Nakajima Megumi, but Maaya still said that she had put so much work in those that she wanted to make her own rendition. Here’s the original for you to compare click me! , Nakajima has a beautiful super sweet voice, but she lacks a bit of emotion at times. Maaya’s version sounds very raw and emotional, instead, the minimal instrumental also adds to the overall feel of the song. One of my favorites of the album, despite is ballad nature.
Rating: 5 out of 5
8. Shitsuren Cafe: I love this song! I’ll probably skip it to death on a daily basis because it’s not the type of music I listen to anymore, but it’s so much fun! If you’ve heard her song “Paprika” from Yuunagi Loop, this sounds a lot like that, only even more upbeat and danceable! It has lots of latin elements, and I love the tambourine <3. This makes me want to stand up and dance, without a doubt!
Rating: 4 out of 5
9. SONIC BOOM: That sounds like the title of a KOTOKO song, right? Anyway, here’s another kind of upbeat number, although it sounds remarkably less generic than Get no Satisfaction, this one has the pretty violins that help give it a somewhat different flavor. Apparently, it’s the theme song for the OAVs of the “Tsubasa” anime. All of the songs from said series sound kind of the same to a point. So yeah, it doesn’t really make me super excited, but the lyrics sound pretty, and the music overall doesn’t sound half bad… I’m not sure about this one, it might grow on me later, who knows?
Rating: 3,5 out of 5
10. Peanuts: This song begins with an amazing instrumental made of a clear music box kind of sound and pizzicatto strings. Then Maaya starts singing in a fast way, the song builds in the same adorable and quirky way, and it sounds very cute and cool. The chorus makes for normal happy pop, and then there’s clapping and the pizzicatto returns for the next verse <3. It’s a very dynamic song, and it also sounds very original! It’s definitely something you can’t get bored of!
Rating: 4 out of 5
11. Saigo no Kajitsu: Another Tsubasa song, and another Maaya single. I’m not a fan of this song, but it’s quite pretty. The guitar driven instrumental is accompanied by some dramatic strings here and there. And Maaya sounds very good and emotional. This is a sad little ballad that builds into a hopeful sounding chorus. But not my thing, sorry!
Rating: 3 out of 5
12. Colors: This song is the theme for a Planetarium program Maaya narrates. I love planetariums for some bizarre reason, so I was really looking forward to this song, and it didn’t disappoint at all! It’s the only english song in the album, and it brings me back memories of way back when all her albums included stuff in english. Maaya doesn’t have a perfect pronunciation, but she still sounds beautiful. And the “new age” sounding background works surprisingly well with both the vocals and the song’s overall feel. I love it.
Rating: 4,5 out of 5
13. Kazamidori: Without a doubt, the most popular of the new Maaya songs, the pizzicato is back, but this time, to give the song a dreamy atmosphere. Then lovely strings join in, and Maaya sounds wonderful. There isn’t really much that can be said about this song, if anything, Maaya is the queen of “simple is better” musically wise, at least. Her less elaborate songs are the ones that tend to sound absolutely beautiful and give her a special sound.
Rating: 5 out of 5
14. Guitar Hiki ni Naritai Na: With a title like “I want to become a guitar player”, it’s very easy to guess what this song sounds like. Again, it’s soft, and absolutely beautiful. It’s largely defined as a medium paced song featuring only Maaya’s voice and a beautiful acoustic guitar accompanying her and driving the song. A great close to the album, and a very nice song to just listen to and relax for a bit!
Rating: 4,5 out of 5
OVERALL ALBUM RATING: 4,3 out of 5
Well, what can I say, this is an amazing album, and I’m really happy to hear Maaya doing great music again. Some songs in the album I found to be pretty forgettable, and, of course, I would’ve very much preferred having the lovely C/W to “Ame ga Furu”, Praline, over Saigo no Kajitsu, which I find to be a quite forgettable and unremarkable song, but yeah, things are what they are. I’ll probably review all of Maaya’s albums some day or even, all of her songs, because like I said, she’s one of my favorites ever since I was a kid, and she always encouraged me with her songs, or she made me dream with her music and I love her for that. If you haven’t heard her music yet, I highly recommend that you at least check out the samples I provided, don’t dismiss her because she’s “just another anime singer”, because she’s takes her music very seriously and writes beautiful lyrics that usually go with great music.
Ok, that’s all from me right now! Please remember to BUY the CD if you liked what you heard! And congratulations to Maaya for making it to the #2 spot of the Oricon ranking in the first week of sales of “Kazeyomi”!!!
In all my AKB Fanboyish-ness I totally forgot about Maaya.
“Maaya doesn’t have a perfect pronunciation”
… Anymore?
Her pronunciation is really good (especially for someone claiming not to know English) in older songs like Afternoon Repose and Danielle.
Wow I’m a fan of Maaya Sakamoto too! Nice review! Helping me to find more of her songs. I liked her songs since she sang Yakusoku wa iranai