144. azusa (CD)

Info:
Album Title: azusa
Artist: azusa
Release Date: 2011.8.31

Tracklist
1. 明日晴れたら (ashita haretara)
2. i Love
3. マングローブの森 (manguroopu no mori)
4. 夢ノート (yume note)
5. ふーる ふーる (fu-ru fu-ru)
6. 真夏のフォトグラフ (manatsu no photograph)
7. ナミダアメ (namida ame)
8. Two of us
9. 好きよ (suki yo)
10. 君のままで (kimi no mama de)
11. Just be a friend
12. 夏祭り (natsu matsuri)
13. フラワー (flower)
14. stories ~azusa self-cover ver.~

Review:
I saw this self-titled album by chance, and decided to check out who "azusa" is. Turns out I have heard her before from the GIZA Studio band called, Sparkling Point. After disbanding, she signed with Pony Canyon, the same record company as popular artists such as KREVA or Watarirouka Hashiritai (渡り廊下走り隊). This is her first full-length album.

azusa's voice is like a more childish version of Kaori Mochida from Every Little Thing, with a similar range of notes but closer in quality to the idols of the mid-1990s. It can also be described as soft pop music. Her single, "i Love" and "Kimi no mama de" were used for the anime "Amagami SS", and so she is also associated with anime songs.

All of her songs are catchy and cute, but to be honest, there really isn't a lot of diversity in the lyrics and the sound. She almost always goes for a high note in the chorus, and hold it for a couple of seconds, and gradually progress down in chords. Out of the 13 tracks on the album, there are about 5 slow-tempo songs, but only "Two of us" had anything close to a groove that we associate with slow jams.

It is pretty hard for generic sounding artists to make it big these days. If it weren't for her songs being featured in animes, azusa will continue to remain nameless. As it stands, this 1st major release can only be said to be doing "okay". She needs to either go MORE in the route of an anisong singer, or reinvent her sound to attract more audiences. She's still young, though; she has the time.

S² Ratings: [7.8/10 (78%)]
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Reviewed by micr0q, copyright 2011. Research from wikipedia.jp, GIZA, Oricon Style and Pony Canyon. Image belong to Pony Canyon, no infringement intended.