Sowelu – Let me… August 29, 2011

Track Listing

1. I want U to… feat. WISE Produced by ☆Taku Takahashi (m-flo)
2. Let ME Lead U
3. WOMAN
4. One more kiss (for MEN edition only)
5. Diamond (for WOMEN edition only)
6. Endless Summer
7. Kimi no Nai Sekai

1. I want U to… feat. WISE Produced by ☆Taku Takahashi (m-flo)

Starting the mini-album with the first of two promotional songs is the lone collaboration tune.  Now, Sowelu isn’t a stranger to Taku’s arrangements since he produced “MATERIAL WORLD” which is literally her last single released.  Though I have to admit that Taku shouldn’t really try to do dubstep since it feels weird but yet I still found myself liking the song.  WISE does a good job adding a bit more spice to song and just makes the tune that more enjoyable.  It might come off as messy to some people or others will just love it…it depends.

2. Let ME Lead U

I’m gonna be frank about it and say I love this song ten times more than the opening track just because it’s dance done well (and that’s a surprise coming from Sowelu).  It’s sexy, groovy and mysterious and it just oozes this new side of Sowelu perfectly IMO.  The chorus is also pretty damn catchy to listen to and especially the second half of it where she’s just like ~i…want you…now!~  Yeah, I love this song and she gets censored OH MY! hehehe!

3. WOMAN

After two synth-bombers it’s comes to a sudden halt when WOMAN starts up.  It’s pretty basic of a song with not a lot going on in the arrangement cept finger snapping, acoustic guitar, and some light percussion.  For something so simple it kind of fits Sowelu nicely as it’s not abrasive nor out of character even though I question why it had to be after “Let ME Lead U”….

4a. One more kiss

So the mini album comes in two versions of course and each of them have a different fourth track.  The for MEN version comes with One more kiss which would be a nice nostalgic run for the fans of her days on SONY since it’s R&B and all the bells and whistles that come with it.  I mean it’s really alright, but nothing stands for me in this track (maybe the verses) but that’s about it for me. 

4b. Diamond

Strange that the WOMEN’s only comes with another dance track.  I must say that it is a pretty consistent beat to it that works for me and Sowelu sounds quite nice.  Though it’s weird that she hits high notes in the chorus but I can’t blame it since it didn’t detract me from the tune.  It doesn’t have the punch that the promotional songs had, but it’s pretty good as un upbeat tune.

5. Endless Summer

She seems to be hitting different styles and moods on this mini because while Endless Summer would have fit better have “Let ME Lead U” since it has synths and such it does pick up after the two slower songs.  It’s a really nice summery song and Sowelu sounds breezy to sing along.  I can find myself enjoying this a lot!

6. Kimi no Nai Sekai

Closing the mini is Kimi no Nai Sekai which is another ballad but has a little more emotional value than “WOMAN” but the latter does have the better lyrics I think.  The strings and kind of uber light R&B feel to it fits and I don’t think I’ve heard Sowelu pull off a better ballad since she has really nice vocals in this song.  Did very well for itself I must say.

 

 

 

I couldn’t get myself back into “Love & I. ~Ren’ai Henriki” because it was plainly a boring album with just a couple of hitters and that was her first album under rhythm zone.  Luckily her first mini-album Let me… was such a strong release at least in my eyes that this is what she should’ve done and not a collaboration album XD.  Half the mini was upbeat dance tunes while the other was a more refined, calm side.  Yeah, this was pretty damn good even with the naughty cover art (the women’s one is so lulzy with turkey!).

ARTISTS BLOWOUT!: Fill you in time I guess!!!!

So yush I have been randomly adding new artists over time since I don’t get spazzy enough to add 10 or more different ones but I have added a few before and I’m adding new ones now so here’s the list y’all!!!…Starting with the ones I have reviewed already XD (and a few that don’t have profiles ((excluding that uber big post))).

Sakura Gakuin

I can’t believe I never wrote about them on at least one of the artists blowouts I had.  Sakura Gakuin is of course an idol group with older and younger set girls.  Good thing is is that 2 of the members originally came from Karen Girl’s which meant that they were in it to get popular.  Of course at the time I saw them the first time they hadn’t released “Yume ni Mukatte/Hello! IVY” and today they’ve also released their first album after that.  Looking forward to what’s next from them.

miCKun

At the time I didn’t really think about him or HIROKO having a profile considering they were already there as mihimaru GT but I guess I’ll be nice and just put em up.  miCKun when I first caught notice had announced that “Kyouka Suigetsu” was his solo debut so I had added him simply because so (and this was before HIROKO’s announcement).  Speed up to now and we have one single and one album.  Since the members came back, I guess solo works are on hiatus.

HIROKO

HIROKO’s announcement came soon after miyake’s and she came out strong with “GIRLZ UP” and “Saigo no Koi” before releasing “OPEN THE DOOR”.  it was alright but by smart decision skills she joined back together with miyake and once again solo activities have stopped for the time being. 

Rina

Rina or Rina Sakurai back in her indies days kicks off her major label career and while she only has two singles out “Angel” and “Gray Zone”.  She’s still pretty new since she’s a model turned singer but I think she has hope if she continues to release music ^_^

DiVA

It’s weird to see that Aki.P decided to take DIVA which was kind of a small sub-group to just have songs be essentially the B-sides to AKB singles before cutting the members down to four amazing singers to form DiVA with a lower-case i.  Now they’ve only released two singles in “Tsuki no Uragawa” and “Cry” but it’s sad since new members will join for the third single sadly…

You Kikkawa

I guess I forgot to mention Yuu here.  She was announced as a solo singer before Sayaka announced her solo career and TBH, I think Yuu is for the long run since she joined UNIVERSAL-J and all that and has one single out with “Kikkake wa YOU!” and a second one coming out soon with “Happy Wrapping ~Sunrise~”.  I think she has a bright future since she was one of the better singers originally from Hello! Pro Eggs.

Marina Kawano

So I’m gonna say that every year that the Animax Anison Grand Prix happens I’m always gonna add the winner and 2011’s winner was Marina Kawano.  She has released her debut single, “Morning Arch” at least but she’s been quiet lately…hope she announces a new single soon!

Larval Stage Planning

I did explain who LSP were in my single review of the single but it’s literally I’ve Sound’s three new singers (and possibly to make up for the fact that KOTOKO left for Warner).  To me they have voices that kind of cross between Mami Kawada’s and Kaori Utatsuki’s but more towards the cuter side unfortunately.  I do hope for more stuff from them because their debut wasn’t too bad!

RO-KYU-BU!

Kind of like sphere but at the same time not, RO-KYU-BU! I think is just a one-off group because they are a group based on the anime of the same name so I wouldn’t be surprised if “SHOOT!” was their only release but if they get another one out that’ll be pretty awesome too.

Kyarypamyupamyu

Kyarypamyupamyu is Nakata’s newest understudy and she seems to replace MEG with the cute-techno vibes with her first major debut mini, “Moshi Moshi Harajuku”.  I like her and her voice is easier on the ears but she needs some edgy songs before I can conclude how I feel towards her right now!

AND NOW THE NEW ONES!

Chiaki Takahashi

One of three new artists starting out their JPN careers the first caught me off guard like HYNA did earlier this year.  Chiaki is relatively an unknown to me like Aimer which gives a mysterious vibe but I will definitely have fun reviewing “Konya wa Chupa♡Riko”.  Such a raunchy little video too…damn I think Kuu needs to teach these new gals a lesson XD

Tomato n’Pine

Yup it’s another idol group but they also just came out of indies-land with their first single “Tabidachi Transfer” and they released their second one “Nanairo Namida” just recently.  They actually sound good and could have the following Momoiro Clover did in their early days too hopefully.

Aimer

Another brand new artist to debut but with a triple A-side “Rokutosei no Yoru/Kanashimi wa Aurora ni/TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR”.  I don’t know much about Aimer but her voice has a YUI-ish sound to it so I guess you might like it if you like piano music too XD

Sakanaction

Sakanaction to me is if School Food Punishment stuck to more of an electro underground sound and I like that a lot about Sakanaction because it’s more synthetic and cool to listen to.  While their album “DocumentaLy” is coming out next.  I’ll review their three singles leading up to it hopefully beforehand.

2NE1

Oh yeah, I’m definitely adding this K-pop group to the site because they have a JPN discography piling up and it’s definitely sweeeeet.  Now they second album is coming soon but they’ve released 3 digital singles to lead up to it and that’s where I’ll start with them is “I Am The Best”.