Summary: The Japanese jazz/pop/folk group The Indigo make great music that's an alternative for those tired of the usual Jpop. Consisting of lead singer Miki Taoka and guitarist Yuichi Ichikawa, who also does the recording and mixing of their songs, the Indigo have kind of gotten the sharp end of the stick, as some of their songs are the ending theme songs to popular anime. They are great in themselves, but are overshadowed by the opening theme songs.
Case in point on The Indigo Suite, their greatest hits: their songs "Namoshirenu Hana" or "A Flower Without A Name" and "I Do" from both seasons of Ai Yori Aoshi are low key compared to the emotional pop stylings of Yoko Ishida's opening themes. Both are in the extended versions. The mid-paced "Flower" is my favourite song here, with its cheery keyboards, relaxed guitars and faint airy synths, with that pondering opening question: "What is the weakest thing in the world? Even so, it exists to protect the two." "I Do" is a bit more uptempo, kind of a lukewarm Stock-Aitken-Waterman number without the layered bubblegum, but with a strong bassline, especially with that strong opening percussive beat, and a trumpet solo in the bridge.
Most of the time, a gentle warm jazz/pop sound that sometimes sounds like Swing Out Sister or Basia emerges. "Blue" was their debut single, a laid back strummed guitar that reminds me of Basia, and with some intelligent lyrics. "What color do you use to paint a dream from your childhood?" asks Taoka. A similar sound, with some 70's stylings colors the theme of an endless journey and a dream made together by two of "Under The Blue Sky," the end theme of Someday's Dreamers, and in songs like "Brand New Day" and the bubbly joy of falling in love of "Beauty,"
A brassy section and some upbeat percussion and keyboards gives "To Love You More" a Swing Out Sister-like sound, with a catchy chorus that highlight Miss Taoka's warm gentle vocals. I'm reminded of that breezy feeling of coasting down the highway and feeling unknowingly perky, that Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up"-particularly the brass rhythms-and 5th Dimension's "Up Up And Away" in "Eternal Love," where the joy of a journey begun by a couple discovering what's beyond that sky.
Shades of the Carpenters' "Rainy Days and Mondays" tinge the introspective "Questioning" and of finding one's own answers in the lonely world: "everyone questions the directions given by someone else/I leave my footprints behind while I walk alone." Love the harmonies of the chorus's backup vocals!
The ephemeral nature of things color the pleading of "Sunflower." The protagonist points out how "the things you love for my sake will disappear in time" particularly physical attributes, kind of like the title flower, which eventually wilt and go to seed, so to love her for her sake. Things take on a despairing nature in "Pain," of wanting something that genuinely heals and clear away the clouds of disillusion: "Alone, I hold the pain that is engraved in my heart/I don't need words to cover up a lie/I just want words to break the sky now."
From their first cover songs album, My Fair Melodies, is their laid back breezy samba/soul version of Roberta Flack's "Feel Like Makin' Love"
With influences from 70's soul and 80's pop/jazz, The Indigo is a ticket to some relaxing yet upbeat and positive music. Now let's hope they do something that'll earn them an opening theme for once. |
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