miray – Foreplay (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)

1. Proof of Love
2. Tek Weh Yuh Self (feat. DOMINO-KAT)
3. Foreplay (feat. CORN HEAD)
4. タイミング
5. 恋しくて ～You’re not here～
6. Just Listen (feat. DJ KAORI)
7. 涙

J-Pop/reggae dancehall artist/producer miray is back with her third mini-album (all mini-albums were released in 2009) titled “Foreplay”. miray is an Osaka native who came from a dancing background in classical ballet.

She became a reggae dancer with HOTTIE CAT and both released a single titled “Summer for Life”. She made her official debut in 2009 with her mini-album “Jump Pump” and her latest mini-album features her ability to sing reggae dance hall songs but also showcasing her as a J-Pop artist.

The mini-album kicks off with her J-Pop track “Proof of Love” produced by Daisuke Imai. A pretty awesome pop track and it suits her vocals quite well. Upbeat, cool grooves, cool song!

The second track “Tek We Yuh Self” is a reggae dance hall track featuring DOMINO-KAT and music by DJ YUTAKA. Music that we are usually used to hearing from artists like ARIA, miray does a good job but where ARIA and even PANG’s vocals are more suited to the reggae music, miray comes off well but more of a J-Pop vocalist compared to her other female reggae counterparts from the avex sub-labels.

The third track “Foreplay” features a collaboration with CORN HEAD which is more of a J-Pop track than a reggae dance hall track. But it’s a catchy pop song with CORN HEAD just yelling “yeah” or “what” in the background and lends his rhymes to the bridge. Overall, a good, catchy pop track.

Probably the most surprising track on the album is reggae version of the Black Biscuits hit “Timing”. Sung in a J-Pop singsong style with a reggae groove courtesy of Dub Master X. Pretty cool cover!

The fifth track “Koushitekute ~You’re not here~” is a ballad with a reggae groove courtesy of miray, kors k and K.Ando but sometimes miray sounds flat at times.

The sixth track “Just Listen” features a collaboration with DJ KAORI. An upbeat pop track with cool beats and it’s an OK track but DJ KAORI’s beats doesn’t have the balance with miray’s vocals. It’s OK but the balance is not there.

The final track on the mini-album is “namida” (Tear) which is an acoustic guitar track courtesy of Akira Tatsuwaki. Overall, it’s another average song at best. I wish Akira Tatsuwaki kept the track to an acoustic guitar and not put the UFO sounds in the background.

The CD insert features lyric from miray and production credits. Also, quite a few photos of her and a rhythm zone insert.

Overall, “Foreplay” was a mini-album that starts off well for the first four tracks but then the last three started to go downhill. Was not digging the miray/Akira Tatsuwaki collaboration and as much as I love DJ KAORI, the beats and miray’s vocals didn’t go off so well. But there are solid songs on this album and if you are purchasing this album digitally, I definitely recommend the first four tracks.

Otherwise, as a whole, it’s a good mini-album from miray that has its positive, awesome tracks and some that just didn’t go well at all.

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