SAWA – I Can Fly (A J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)

1. I Can Fly
2. Sing It Back
3. NightDesert
4. I Love You Always Forever
5. My Sunny Days

For Japanese female vocalist SAWA, the music artist who started playing violin at the age of four, playing the piano at the age of ten and then at the age 14, was influenced by the Japanese all-female pop group SPEED to learn how to dance.  But it was not until the music artist started to take part in auditions in 2006 and utilizing software to create her own musical tracks.

Inspired by artists such as m-flo, Jazztronik and FreeTEMPO, the singer/songwriter received her big break when she released her mini-album “COLORS” in 2008.  The album was produced by  Takeshi Hanzawa (FreeTEMPO) which debuted at #8 on iTunes Japan and stayed in the top 3 for three weeks.  Her second mini-album “Time & Space” released Dec. 2008 was produced by the most popular electronic and underground producers such as RAM RIDER, Yukihiro Fukutomi and several other noticeable music producers.

In the Summer of 2009, SAWA released her third mini-album titled “I Can Fly” featuring collaborations with Sound Around (for “I Can Fly”), Yukihiro Fukutomi (for “Sing It Back”), BREMEN (for “NightDesrt”), Masayuki Ishii (for “I Love You Always Forever”) and note native (for “My Sunny Days”).

SAWA’s music is a cross between club, house, electronica and sugary idol J-pop.  The strength of her work is of course her noticeable musical collaborations.  With her songs featuring a hybrid of English and Japanese lyrics plus the visual combination of the cute girl with club music definitely has worked for SAWA’s career.

Songs such as “Sing It Back” and My Sunny Days” stand out the most in this mini-album but for the most part SAWA’s “I Can Fly” is average at best boosted by its strong musical presence.

Tri-fold insert with lyrics to the five songs and production credits.

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