Nariaki Obukuro(小袋成彬) - Summer of Secession(分離派の夏) Album Thoughts(J-music)

Tracklist:
01. 042616 @London
02. Game
03. E. Primavesi
04. Daydreaming in Guam
05. Selfish
06. 101117 @El Camino de Santiago
07. Summer Reminds Me
08. GOODBOY
09. Lonely One feat.宇多田ヒカル
10. 再会
11. 茗荷谷にて
12. 夏の夢
13. 門出
14. 愛の漸進

 

   Nariaki Obukuro stepped into the spotlight after he worked with Hikaru Utada on a track that was used for her last album. He performed the song with the famous singer live on television and then announced later that he would be releasing his own debut album. Utada was featured on the album's lead single "Lonely One" while also producing half of the album. The album was met with moderate success as the debut placed at number 38 on the Oricon charts. Lonely One did very well on Japan's Spotify site, topping the chart for the most played song that week. Originally, Nariaki Obukuro was the CEO of Tokyo Recordings. He's produced music for a couple of famous singers in the past.

   I can smell Utada Hikaru all over the tracks on this album. Just as she described how she wanted her new music to be "artsy", Obukuro's debut bring forth a bunch of experimental sounds. This album doesn't let you place the guy in one box easily. My mind can't decided what genre of music he leans towards more. Lonely One makes listeners think that he would be more of an RnB singer but this album begs to differ. Each track has production that adds different shades of color to the album. Thinking about the music of the album off the top of my head, He might be more of a experimental ballad singer. The production sounds very transformative to me though. Music for some of the tracks starts off with slow piano, them becomes electrical pop right in the middle of a song. Obukuro plays around with the musical dynamic a lot which is impressive. Slow paced Violins that suddenly change into a band of med tempo guitars and drums grace the inside Obukuro's musical vision. Nothing stays the same in his instrumentals nor are they simple productions that anyone could create. Paying too much attention to the production caused a lack of something else in my opinion: Excitement. There's no really fun moments during the album's duration. A more upbeat song here and there would have been a nice touch. Even Utada made sure to put some upbeat music in her last album. Being artsy isn't a risk for Utada either. She's a big name in Japan however, Obukuro had this one time to make a great first impression as a solo artist. I believe he would have got a top ten spot on Oricon Chart had he done a more dance type song as his second single. It could have been just as artsy too.

   Nariaki's voice can get up there to a high range. He likes his voice to hang around up there in the sky like Utada. Sometimes it can be a bit too much on my ears but I like his tone overall. Utada can be heard in the feature as well as singing background vocals on a few of the tracks. Her feature vocals showcased her singing a more RnB style after a long time of not revisiting the genre. That vocal run she attempted needed some work. She struggled a little bit and I always feel like you shouldn't sing a run if you're not sure the run is going come out strong. If the run sounds weak, you don't sound good as a singer. Some people were saying that the high note was flat but it wasn't. The high note was fine to me. Nariaki didn't have any problems singing Lonely One in a way that showed his vocal ability. It would have been nice if they had harmonized the last chorus of the track together.

   I'll be listening out for this guy. He has much more growing to do. Hopefully the next release will correct the mistakes that his debut made. I'm totally late posting about him…. Sorry guys!