Angela Aki – Seasons of Love (Ai no Kisetsu) (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)
October 22, 2009 by Dennis Amith
“Another entertaining and beautiful release from Angela Aki. Beautiful music and vocals plus a cover of ‘It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday’. Another well-written, well-produced and well-performed single from Angela Aki!”
ARTIST: Angela Aki
CD SINGLE: Seasons of Love (Ai no Kisetsu)
LABEL: Epic Records Japan
CATALOG #: ESCL-3270
DURATION: 12:02
RELEASE DATE: September 16, 2009
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- 愛の季節
- エミリー
- It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
Angela Aki, the popular singer-songwriter-pianist who was inspired by Sarah McLachlan while attending George Washington University and despite being a political science major, after attending a concert for McLachlan, it was enough for the artist to pursue her career in music.
So, she braved the struggling artist life by working as a waitress, so she can perform at a nightclub and even released an independent album in the US titled “These Words”. She followed up with a #1 selling Indie album in Japan in 2005 and caught the eye of Nobuo Uematsu who gave Angela the opportunity to write and sing the theme song “Kiss Me Good-Bye” for the popular video game “Final Fantasy XII” and since then, has become a popular solo artist and also becoming the first artist in Japan to perform solely by herself (and a piano) at the Nippon Budokan Hall.
Her last single (her eighth) was “Tegami ~Haikei Juugo no Kimi e~” which was released back in Sept. 2008 and nearly a year later, Angela returns with her ninth CD single “Ai no Kisetsu” (Seasons of Love).
The CD single kicks of with “Ai no Kisetsu” and is the theme song for the NHK drama “Tsubasa”. A beautiful piano-driven melody showcasing Angela’s beautiful vocals and piano playing. Overall, a solid mid-tempo track.
The second track “Emily” features a Sara Bareilles-style of happy piano track but it’s all Angela Aki featuring her beautiful piano playing and bass and percussion accompaniment. Another entertaining track on the single.
The third and final track on the single is G.C. Cameron’s “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” (made popular in the 90′s by Boyz II Men). Featuring Japanese and English lyrics, the song features primarily Angela playing the piano and singing the song. Another well-done track on the single but not as sad or solemn compared to the Boyz II Men version.
The CD insert is a bi-fold that features the lyrics and production credits for the songs. Included is a handwritten message by Angela promoting “MY KEYS PLUS+” (her solo/piano December 26, 2009 performance) and information of how one can watch the live performance.
It’s important to note that the CD+DVD version of this album comes with the music video of “Ai no Kisetsu”, the making of and also a live DVD Premiere Movie.
Overall, another solid CD single from Angela Aki. Featuring great music composition, vocals and overall an enjoyable single that fans will definitely enjoy! Highly recommended!
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