a review of pearl pierce by yumi matsutoya

THIS REVIEW IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: merton / @mertonesque

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THE ARTIST

 

 

When I first started collecting japanese CDs, at the start of every month I'd use my previous month's salary buying at least 1 japanese CD on the brazilian website Mercado Livre. That was how I'd discover some of my all time favourites such as Okamura Takako, and even if I didn't end up buying a CD, I built up knowledge of famous and semi-obscure artists of showa era Japan. One time, I only had money for one CD, and I had to pick between two I found: Shizuka Kudo's Harvest, and Yumi Matsutoya's Dawn Purple. Yumi Matsutoya albums tend to have pretty striking cover arts and Dawn Purple was no different. Before buying the CDs I'd usually listen to at least one or two songs from it on youtube, which is what I did to both of these. Kudo's 'Akiko' captured my heart, and so did Matsutoya's 'Happy Birthday to You'. Can you guess which one of those I picked and ended up regretting forever? Definitely not the one made by this review's artist.

I'd eventually come across Yuming's music again for different reasons, like her tracks that were featured in Kiki's Delivery Service. The more I engaged in Japanese Music circles online, the clearer it got that Yuming was a huge deal. I'd say she was up there with Akina Nakamori, Seiko Matsuda and Momoe Yamaguchi as the biggest music stars of showa era Japan. 1982's Pearl Pierce is as far as I know a fan-favourite, and also an artist favourite! Yes, Yuming herself loves this one, which is a good sign, because Brian Wilson's favourite Beach Boys album is The Beach Boys Love You -- which I adore. Will I love this too?

 

THE ALBUM

 

 

An interesting thing about Pearl Pierce is that it has a LOT in common with my 2nd favourite album of all time, Akina Nakamori's Crimson (1986). Crimson is a decisively feminine record, with every track being written by a female songwriter and - as far as I know - produced by Akina herself. Crimson's tracks depict female frustrations, love affairs and Things Such As, although in a broader sense than Pearl Pierce. This album, though, is a direct Concept Album about an 'Office Lady' (something that appears to have been prevalent in 70's and 80's corporate Japan) dealing with frustrations, love affairs and Things Such As.

Musically, and this is something that's been said before, this sounds way more traditionally City Pop than her other stuff, it's very funky and jazzy. That makes sense if you think about the album's concept: Where are offices usually located? That's right, in Cities, wherein Pop does often play. 

It's easy to put yourself in this lady's shoes: walking through Shinjuku and Shibuya at night, ogling storefronts and thinking about how you're going to spend your salary, if this month's is enough and you can give yourself a little treat or if you should hold it off for a while, inbetween thoughts of your love life and your uncertain future. The lush feminine corporate aesthetics are something that would eventually show up a lot in vaporwave (specifically Luxury Elite's discography) which was a movement that took a lot of inspiration from this era of music in Japan.

 

The opener is super funky and daytime-city-esque but more on the chill side. Reminds me of early Onuki and early Yumi Murata.

The title track (真珠のピアス) is easily the best one here. The chorus' chord progression conveys longing - perhaps for a lost future or a wasted past - and the vocal melodies convey uncertainty and heartbreak, which is what this song is about. It's a rare case of a super catchy pop tune with really sad chord progressions and melodies; It all depends on the tone and execution. And percussion, I suppose.

The following track, ランチタイムが終わる頃 is another highlight. A warm and tender ballad about having lunch by yourself in a crowded restaurant before your lunch break is over, something i can relate to a lot. The chorus is especially tender, the type of thing you'd hear on a Brian Wilson centric Beach Boys album.

Like a lot of pop concept albums though, a few of these tracks are either unspecific enough to fit or just have convenient theming (like 昔の彼に会うのなら, which she'd written years before for a pop duo), and also like a lot of singer/songwriter Jpop albums, the album kinda loses some steam in the second half. I think the best song in it is Dang Dang, which is pretty good but I wouldn't choose to listen to it over, like, a Yumi Murata banger. But all that is okay because, if you spend enough time listening to singer/songwriter Jpop albums you'll realize that an album having a bunch of filler or otherwise mediocre tracks are part of the charm, and the masterpieces hiding in between are worth the time.

I do want to make it clear that I don't think these songs are bad or subpar, they're just not interesting to me and I wouldn't come back to them willingly like I would for the ones I mentioned. 

 

CONCLUSION

 

I expected a little bit more from this because I already had it downloaded though never listened to the whole thing, and I remembered really liking the beggining, but it is one of those "dig for the deep cuts" albums. The best tracks here are amazing and I'd recommend to just about anyone regardless of music taste, but the others just don't do much for me. Would I recommend it as your first Yuming album? Well, no. She has better pop albums, and I actually prefer her folk stuff, so I'd pick those, but if you really enjoy this kind of traditional Citypop it really is worth your time.

 

P.S: I ended up re-listening to Dawn Purple. Dude, it's so amazing. It's like this breezy, watery, tropical miami night thing jampacked with hooks. It might even be better than Adventure!!! I might write about it, maybe?

 

Favourites: 真珠のピアス (Pearl Pierce), ランチタイムが終わる頃 (Right When the Lunch Time Is Over), Dang Dang

 

7.5/10