Release Date: March 18, 2020
Track Listing
- RIDE ON WEEKEND
- B.M.B.
- I My Me Myself
- TOKYO NITE
- If you and I were,
- TSUTAENAKYA, TODOKANAKYA, KIMI NI KIKOENAKYA
- 20 -TWENTY-
- Midnight Step
- Sunkissed Girl
- Free! Free! Free!
- ALRIGHT
Review
In a short span of 2 years, Anna Takeuchi released 3 E.P.’s, at ONE, at TWO and at THREE. These three mini-albums showcased her quirky mix of musical genres, including pop, soul, hip-hop and electro and were also a compelling introduction to her eclectic sound.
Her first full-length album MATOUSIC is a continuation of what her mini-albums started. If you have listened to her discography up to this point, you will see that the singles from her E.P.’s are imports (but the covers of popular English language songs are not sadly), so it’s not an entirely new set of songs you are getting here.
However, there are still four new tracks to absorb in between the older stuff.
- RIDE ON WEEKEND
- If you and I were,
- TSUTAENAKYA, TODOKANAKYA, KIMI NI KIKOENAKYA
- Midnight Step
Yes, that’s not much, but you take what you can get. These four songs run the table in musical styles. What floats your boat will depend on your preferences. I found the uptempo RIDE ON WEEKEND and Midnight Step to be the songs that stand out amongst the four.
If you are in the mood for something downtempo, give If You and I were, and TSUTAENAKYA, TODOKANAKYA, KIMI NI KIKOENAKYA a spin instead.
Should you not be familiar with Takeuchi’s music, then it’s best to start with all the other songs before diving into the four new tracks. It will give you a better overview of her material to accurately assess everything else. Once you take MATOUSIC in as a whole, you will find there isn’t a cohesive sound that glues the entire thing together.
As mentioned above, it is all over the place musically. One can think of it as organized chaos rather than a focused effort. That seems to be intentional as Takeuchi has so many directions that she can go into at once. Much of Takeuchi’s individuality is on full display. So much that she probably will turn off a few folks with the haphazard nature of this album.
With all that said, even though MATOUSIC is a bit of an adventurous listening experience, the final product is still quite enjoyable.
