Stuck In A Pagoda With Motoko Aoyama

RI-SA.J
“Sexual Night, but…”
(Next Records)
Availability: CD single, iTunes Japan, HearJapan.com
Rating:

R&B music here in the United States has gone right down the commode since about 2002. I could easily say a specific date – say the day Lisa Lopes died in that car wreck – but I won’t. But I will say without a doubt that in the wake of TLC’s subsequent breakup that the quality of R&B/urban music in America has been lacking. Most songs in the genre are just plain monotonous, built along a lame hook, lame-ass “in da club” lyrics, and less than average vocals. I swear to god, if I ever hear Rhianna’s “Umbrella” song again, I’ll take that umbrella, shove it up her ass, and…

*IM beep*
reina_t_1111: Breathe, Ceej, breathe. Skip the details and get to the CD you’re reviewing.

Looks like my muse has spoken.

Anyway, some great urban contemporary-influenced sounds have been coming out of Japan over the past several years that I’ve been following that country’s output – Mai Kuraki’s first two albums, many of Hello! Project’s R&B experiments (see the tracks used on the second episode of The Pagoda Podcast as well as the show notes for good examples), and much of Koda Kumi’s output come to mind. So it’s probably no surprise that, thanks to the site HearJapan.com and a Japanese indie label called Next Records, I should stumble across a trio that makes the best modern R&B songs that I’ve heard in years.

Ri-Sa.J is an R&B trio from Chiba (also the home of Akiakane) consisting of Rie (a classically trained singer according to Neat, and it shows), Sana, and Yuri. (And for the record, that’s exactly the order they appear in the photo above – I know I usually don’t illustrate reviews here beyond the actual album cover, but since they’re a new group on an indie label, the eyecandy here is more than justified.)The name stands for both the names of founding members Rie and Sana (their first EP, Sa/Ga – Circumstances of the Woman, released last November, was recorded as a duo) and for the Engrish slogan “Rising Satisfaction Jazzy”, which is prominent on the cover artwork of both of their singles. For their second EP Sexual Night, but…, third member Yuri has been added.

The title song (love that awkward Engrish title!) opens the EP and is a hard-hitting track sounding like En Vogue’s “Hold On” on steroids – a rather appropriate comparison given that the trio’s vocals throughout the EP recall EV in their prime. The instrumentation on “Sexual Night, but…” is minimal but full sounding – drums (possibly programmed or looped as there’s little or no drum fills heard, but the drum sounds themselves sound fuller than even the best drum machines on the market), keyboard brass, synth bass, jazzy piano and sustained organ chords propel the song and keep things moving despite the minor monotony of having the verse and chorus share basically the same instrumental leitmotif throughout. A well-written and well-placed bridge breaks the monotony nicely – perhaps in this case, the song’s composers tried to write a B section and couldn’t come up with anything complimentary to the rest of the song?

“Tears for…” opens with grand piano before a busier bass line and drum pattern come in along with more synth brass. The tempo is a few beats slower than “Sexual Night, but…”, and the song itself offers five distinct sections (verse, pre-chorus, chorus – the first three repeated a second time – piano solo and bridge) to accompany the girls’ vocals.

“My Love” is a ballad with a more jazzy feel, with Risa telling her unidentified lover “I love you darling, stay with me” in English before serenading him over piano, live drums, and upright bass. This is mostly Risa’s show here – Sana and Yuri keep to background vocals, while organ and synth brass make themselves heard only during the refrains and, in the case of the former instrument alone, on the middle-eight.

“UP”, an uptempo tune that wouldn’t sound out of place in Koda Kumi’s early back catalog, changes things around by bringing in digital instrumentation (even though the piano work is in similar style to the rest of the EP, it sounds like a digital instrument rather than an acoustic one) and a few tasty, unobtrusive turntable leads behind the group’s full vocal sound. The sexual theme from the first song returns, as the girls entice their suitors to “ride on me” during the chorus. Like the rest of the EP, the musical composition is quite substantial compared to most of the past few years of American urban contemporary music, bringing the EP to a solid conclusion and leaving the listener wanting more. I certainly look forward to more from these three ladies.

Highly recommended for fans of Koda Kumi, En Vogue, or Hello! Project’s R&B/urban excursions. 4.5 out of 5 stars.