倖田來未 – feel my mind

Posted by Alvy on 2012.01.10 · 8 Comments 

Artist: 倖田來未 (Koda Kumi)
Album: feel my mind
Release Date: 02.18.2004

Very early in Koda Kumi‘s career, before she became an official queen of J-Pop, she had really strong J-Urban influences, though her take on the genre was more organic than the contemporary material we hear a lot nowadays.

feel my mind is the album that solidified Koda Kumi’s image as that of a sexy siren and consequently, it became the platform she utilized in order to promote her own fashion movement, that of ero-kawaii/ero-kakkoi. This album is a bit underrated among her records, but it’s one of my favorites simply because of the delicious and timeless J-Urban material we get from it! We get everything from raunchy dance tunes to refreshing, sentimental ballads in styles that sound very natural to Kumi’s voice and personality.

Break it down is not a favorite of mine in the album. It’s definitely enjoyable because it just sounds like a dirty midtempo, an effect pretty difficult to create, but there’s something about the slowness of the song, that doesn’t feel very pleasing for me… it makes it sound somewhat sloppy, and even though it contributes to the dirty feel, it isn’t very pleasing to me. It’s definitely an interesting song, just not my cup of J-Urban tea.

Crazy 4 U is amazing because of its catchy, somehow disco-like arrangement! Kumi’s strong vocals make the song really enjoyable as well as the fact that even though it’s a very funky R&B/Pop dance track, it doesn’t confine itself within the limitations of a dance track, it has its own charm and appeal and this individuality is what I love about it. That dance break is pretty precious too. Catchy, sexy and fun, what else could a Kumi fan wish for?

Rock Your Body continues with the album’s string of sexy tracks. I really find this a lot more pleasing than Break it down, being more uptempo and having a stronger beat that sounds somewhat ethnic. It has some delicious R&B elements to it that gives this song its J-Urban punch and it’s very fun overall. Kumi sounds very raw but she can hit her notes and make it sound really good!

I really like Rain because it’s very classic Kumi. In the beginning of her career, Kumi strikes me as being a diamond in the rough. Her voice is somewhat raspy and raw, her range isn’t as flexible as it is nowadays, which makes for some extra, unpolished feeling that I really love when it comes to the styles she covered. Rain is true evidence of that raw Kumi I love so much, she can hit high notes just as well as nowadays, but there’s something extra in that ballad that really manifests into an amazing, sentimental song that I really like.

Without Your Love is pure instrumental fun, catchiness, and Kumi vocal goodness. I like the playfulness of the repetitive, remix-sounding instrumentals against Kumi’s soft, high-pitched adlibbing. I also like the mix of police car sounds added to the mix making Kumi sound dangerous while emphasizing that she truly will be getting crazy without love. A very fun song and one of my favorites for sounding like it really tells us a story and sounds really good doing it!

Talk To You is the album at its sweet spot! I really like this type of Kumi cuteness over the over-the-top cute songs she’s been doing for years now… Talk To You is sweet, but not diabetes-inducing, and it has a very refreshing, young yet mature feel to it that I really like as well. This song is definitely more honest-sounding than Kumi’s most recent cute songs and I like the personal touch that it has. Its girly R&B sound with the touch of Kumi’s laughter really is music to my ears!

華 is a really really precious Kumi ballad that I can’t get tired of ever since I started listening to her material back in ’08. There’s something about the strings and the arrangement of the song that make it sound like some sort of expressionist piece molded after the emotion in Kumi’s voice. It’s very liquid, smooth and R&B at first, but the chorus is impacting and strong and Kumi’s voice is equally as striking and beautiful. A Gorgeous ballad.

Get Out The Way is interesting because it follows somewhat of the same patterns as Crazy 4 U and Without Your Love, only not as heavy on the dance parts. It’s a really fun track that may turn out a bit unnoticed because the others are a lot more popular, but it’s equally as good and contains all that good classic Kumi elements we love!

Sweet Love… is one of my favorites on the album. I really like the sweetness of the piano keys and the fact that the song really lives up to its title! It feels like a fantastic trip to a young heart in love, all wrapped in delicious J-Urban packaging that does not overwhelm the feeling conveyed by Kumi’s voice or by the playful instrumentals. The chorus is also very strong in its own delicate way and I love everything about this song, it’s a really special one definitely worth a listen!

Gentle Words doesn’t speak out to me as much after I’ve listened to Sweet Love…. It’s very sweet and it’s definitely a great song with a strong chorus and Kumi sounds beautiful exercising her range, but standing among such strong tracks as Sweet Love… or 華, the beauty of it gets a bit stifled for me. Refreshing to enjoy every once in a while, but definitely not the most beautiful on the album.

magic is my absolute favorite song on this record. I don’t know what it is about this particular song, but I don’t really need to hear anything else after the first second in order to get chills and feel the song entirely. This one is completely atemporal, with gorgeous piano keys, R&B elements that sing with and envelop Kumi’s voice, the backing vocals are fantastic, everything simply works to make this song one of Kumi’s most magical! I really can’t stop listening to it once I start and it’s my absolute favorite on the album and one of my all-time Kumi favorites. Magic.

COME WITH ME is 100% fun! It takes all the little bits of disco elements spread out through the album and concentrates it into an extremely enjoyable summer track! It’s impossible not to feel the spirit of this song with so many trumpets playing joyfully to the fast-paced instrumentals, the backing vocals celebrating the summer and Kumi following everything with the sweetness of her deep voice. This is a Kumi classic I really love!

feel my mind is one of my absolute favorite Koda Kumi albums! It’s really solid and it’s very clear how much influence J-Urban had over it! Its R&B roots definitely became one with Kumi’s Japanese music background in order to create an extremely fun and enjoyable album that is very timless. I feel like this is also one of Kumi’s most honest records, since the tracks don’t seem forced at all, but very natural and mature! An album full of style, amazing influences and a singer full of raw soul and energy… flawless.

Final Score:

98 / A

倖田來未 – COME WITH ME

Filed under Koda Kumi · Tagged with J-Pop, Koda Kumi