Release Date: August 8, 2018
Track Listing
- Ordinary Days
- ALRIGHT
- TEL me
- No Scrubs
Review
Anna Takeuchi a singer-songwriter who was born in Los Angeles and raised in Kyoto. Her music has a strong influence from her parents who introduced her to the music from the 1970’s and 1980’s at an early age.
In June of 2017 she won an audition contest hosted by Sony Music Artists. She made her American debut at SXSW in March of 2018. She also participated in the 2018 edition of the Japan Nite tour, performing in 6 cities including New York and San Francisco.
A month later she released her single Alright on April 2, 2018.
That was followed up a few months later with her official Japanese debut with the EP at ONE on August 8. It features Alright along with 2 more original compositions and a cover song.
Her unique playing style on the acoustic guitar and clear, airy singing voice are on full display here. If you are one who favours the type of music of artists such as miwa, Be The Voice or Swinging Popsicle then this EP should definitely catch your ear.
The four tracks on at ONE run through a variety of different musical styles such as acoustic guitar driven pop (Ordinary Day), mainstream pop (Alright) and adult contemporary. (TEL me)
The fourth track is a cover of TLC’s 1999 hit No Scrubs. Her version is of course a very different take on the song, yet it maintains to retain some of the swag of the original. Props go out to her for keeping Left Eye’s verses in and dropping some unexpected rapping skills.
Overall at ONE is a quick but pleasing listen. Anna Takeuchi’s core sound is best represented by songs like TEL me and the cover of No Scrubs. With that in mind she may not be as easily accessible to listeners with low attention spans or urges for pounding repetitive electronic beats and squeaky high pitched vocals.
However, if you are in the mood for something chill to listen to you can’t go wrong with this EP.
