Koda Kumi – UNICORN

Track Listing

1. UNICORN [Introduction]
2. Heaven’s Kitchen
3. Vroom
4. TOKIO
5. Silence
6. UFO
7. We are FIGHTERS
8. Trust・Last -TYPE K-
9. PIECE OF MY WISH
10. Tooi Machi de Dokoka de…
11. Let’s fight for love!

1. UNICORN [Introduction]

Opening the album, UNICORN is kind of a shocker begins with some muffled noises before a dirty electronic riff kicks in with Kuu spending the title and singing some things.  Considering it’s a minute long, the tune is pretty aggressive and kind of makes me wish she continued to lengthen out intro songs such as this (of course if this would be the case, we’d see the longer cut on the next album).  Makes me wonder what is coming up for the album though…

2. Heaven’s Kitchen

I’m a little shocked as well to see how UNICORN was being handled since 4 songs were digitally released prior to the album and 4 of the new songs on the album are actually covers (there’s 5 covers, but one was a digital single).  I think if you are a BONNIE PINK fan, then this song should be familiar to you.  Honestly, after the introduction, I kind of had figured that the transition is going to be an awkward one as Heaven’s Kitchen is more rock-oriented versus the electronic whiplash.  I think Kuu does a solid job with what she had here, but the song is a bit too loose at times and I do feel like Kuu does kind of get covered up with the brash rock elements.  Definitely is more aggressive than BONNIE’s original, but I feel like we haven’t had rockstar Kuu in a while…

3. Vroom

So yeah the bolded songs are digital singles released prior to UNICORN’s release and I haven’t really paid attention to them until now so they feel like new songs to me.  I’m kind of wondering if this should’ve been right after “UNICORN” because it has that heavy club style going on that kind of suited more for it versus “Heaven’s Kitchen”.  I want to say I thoroughly enjoyed the song, but jeeze that chorus is a bit much, isn’t it?  Song is also a little over 3 minutes and yet, I felt like I just spent a little too much time trying to get used to this.  Beyond the chorus though, I actually enjoyed the verses a lot…it’s just that vapid chorus that takes me straight out.

4. TOKIO

Another cover song pops up next, this one a bit more older, a 1979 Kenji Sawada track and Kuu gave it a pretty safe electropop arrangement here.  I kind of felt like this song was more on the safe side of things for whatever reason?  Like the track’s arrangement is actually kind of nice and the bridge is probably the best part of the song, but there’s something about Kuu’s performance of the song that didn’t feel…right (maybe it’s the auto-tune?).  This might grow on me with more listens though.

5. Silence

We slow things down with Silence (which was the 4th and last single released for the album…there was a 5th but “Dangerously” is seemingly not on the album for some reason).  Anyways, Silence is that kind of melancholic ballad that Kuu always seems to bring out, but there’s something different about this one.  Relying more on the strings to carry the song than the piano, Silence just feels a bit more heartfelt and deep and Kuu is not trying to push her vocals to belt the track out which shows some good restraint for a song like this.  Surprised, but this isn’t half bad!

6. UFO

So I am familiar with this track originally done by Pink Lady (and was covered by Morning Musume more than a decade ago).  This version from Kuu takes the track to a more lounge-like style and the smokier and jazzier take of the song is quite something and I applaud Kuu’s vocals quite a bit here as they just suit the song really nicely.  I think of the cover songs, this is probably the best of them so that’s VERY good to see.

7. We are FIGHTERS

So we only get one brand new track (that isn’t a cover) and I’m sure how to feel about it to be honest lol.  This is kind of that urban try-hard kind of sound and I feel like this is kind of dated somewhat?  At least the sound feels kind of a bit behind the times.  I guess I can say that it’s an interesting song, but I also feel like this is something that should’ve come and gone a few albums ago!  It’s kind of just a weird song on the album and maybe it could be used better in live performances, but the studio cut is just kind of lacking in places.

8. Trust・Last -TYPE K

So this song isn’t new persay, it was originally a collaboration between her and the J-Rock band, Shonan no Kaze and this is pretty much her solo cut of the song and was also used as a theme for the Kamen Rider series.  That said, the changes made of the original are pretty obvious (taking out the vocalist from the band).  The song though is the same otherwise with the kind of pop/rock vibe that did better here than it did in “We are FIGHTERS”.  I think I still would’ve felt more interested had the original been on the album than a Kuu-only version, but it’s whatever.  One of the better tracks from the album and honestly, it could’ve been easily on “Black Cherry” or “Kingdom” to be honest XD.

9. PIECE OF MY WISH

Another cover comes up and is the last of the “new” tracks from the album as Kuu covers this classic 1991 Miki Imai track.  As we near closer to the end of the album, Kuu slows things down for a bit with this ballad.  Though unlike “Silence”, this is kind of the piano ballad that I’m just kind of over and done with from Kuu though I guess it can’t be helped too much considering it is a cover.  I just think this was a little too plain for my tastes, unfortunately.

10. Tooi Machi de Dokoka de…

The last of the cover tracks (and the one that was released as a digital single), this also 1991 song from Miho Nakayama gives Kuu a Christmas song fused with a bit of the original’s City Pop vibes and I kind of enjoyed the mixture?  I think it’s also partly due to this song coming right after the sleepy “PIECE OF MY WISH” that made me more interested here.  I will say it could’ve been a little more faster, but it’s still kind of a warm song for the season for sure though a bit long for being near 6 minutes.  Not bad!

11. Let’s fight for love!

The final track (and funny enough the first digital single for the album), I had totally skipped over this one and didn’t realize it came out before the previous track and “Silence” for that matter.  This song is some kind of mess here with the over-reliance of the auto-tune here and the song just sounds that 2000’s MTV pop sound and that kind of just doesn’t work here especially since it’s the album closer.  Just a big noooope from me.

Tracks Recommended

• UFO
• Silence
• Tooi Machi de Dokoka de…
• Trust・Last -TYPE K-
• Heaven’s Kitchen

Song of Avoidance

• Let’s fight for love!

Can someone tell me why she released UNICORN?  I feel like after “heart” I thought she’d actually do more for her next album and UNICORN is kind of more or less the same of what we’ve been getting from Kuu.  Though I did see some sparks like her covers of UFO, Tooi Machi de Dokoka de…, and Heaven’s Kitchen were pretty unique to say the least.  The original songs though beyond Silence and Trust・Last…total yikes.  I think the auto-tune needs to be taken away now because it’s just horrid to hear nowadays.  Plus, I don’t know but the album just didn’t sit right with me and I’m still trying to figure out as a whole why this album is probably worse than “heart”….