Rei Yasuda(安田レイ) - Circle Album Thoughts(J-pop)

 

   Rei Yasuda is a Japanese American singer, model, and voice actress. She's primarily known as a singer. She started a solo career in 2013 and has released four albums. Circle is her newest album to date. The album features songs used for anime and commercials. 

Track Listings

1	Circle
2	through the dark
3	Not the End
4	風の中
5	HOME THERAPY feat.熊木幸丸 from Lucky Kilimanjaro
6	A beautiful world
7	blank sky
8	Sunday Morning feat.VivaOla
9	It’s you
10	us
11	each day each night

     Circle seems more like a debut album for Rei to me. I'll admit that I haven't listened to her other songs that came out before Circles but this album fits everything that checks the boxes of who she is as a vocalist. This record is mostly pop with some rock ballads and cute bouncy tracks. You know how japan likes their female singers to be. Anyways, The push and pull between Rei's vocals that seem more suited for a rock band and the production demand for her to be a pop star works better than I expected. The opening number titled after the album sets the tone for Rei's intro into dance electronic pop as the track's chorus would pump up any club. Home Therapy is another track that also does the same thing: makes you want to dance across the floor with  fun groovy delivery. This is not the end and Through the dark are ballad tracks using a mixture of English and Japanese matched to simple melodies that fit Rei's raspy vocals. I'm not too much a fan of all the track choices. Still, I understand that Japan has a different market for what is in demand musically. When Rei Yasuda is in her dance pop/ rock ballad bag though, is when I love her the most. Circle gives me more of these moments than anything else, so I was impressed overall. 

    Defiantly check out Circle and her First Take performance. She has other performance videos on her Youtube channel as well.  Side Note: Rei Yasuda is bilingual because she was born in North Carolina to a Japanese Mother and American Father.