The Japanese singer YUKIKA is back with her latest album ‘Soul Lady’. It’s her first full album, so I’m very curious to see how this turns out. Let’s dive right in!
Soul Lady
We open the album with the intro ‘From HND to GMP’. It’s an instrumental track of only fifty seconds, but it’s absolutely lovely and I wish it was longer.
Next up is ‘I feel love’. It starts off with some funky trumpets and is just a shot of dopamine. Of course there’s the staple city pop vibe which I was expecting.
After that we get ‘Soul Lady’, which is the title track. The video perfectly represents the feel of the song with its kaleidoscope of colors.
‘NEON’ is the next track. This song was released as a single last year and I’m still listening to it frequently because it’s fun and it makes me happy.
We go heavy with the synths in the next track ‘Yesterday’. That was pre-released last week and came accompanied with this choreography video. I’m obsessed with the chorus because it’s so fresh and fun.
With ‘A Day For Love’ we’re already halfway through the album. It’s one of the slower songs on ‘Soul Lady’. Yukika’s vocals really shine in this one. The song is so soft!
‘Pit-a-pet’ is next and the instrumentation in this one is so funky. I love the heavy bass in the verses and the lighter chorus section. There’s a lot of play with the instruments and I love it!
The next song is actually the first song I’d ever heard by Yukika. ‘Cherries Jubiles’ remains one of my favorite songs of her entire discography.
Next up
‘I need a friend’ follows and takes us back to the full blown city pop. Though this is another instrumental track, just like the intro. It’s also a very short one clocking in just over a minute and a half.
The tenth track on the album is ‘SHADE’. This feels very nineties, everything from the vocals, to the singing style, to the instrumentals. I dig it.
‘All flights are delayed’ breathes lo-fi hip hop vibes. It kind of feels like the next chapter of the intro with the footsteps and the fact that it’s instrumental.
After that we get ‘NEON 1989’ which is a new version of ‘NEON’ that was pre-released and the original also shows up on this album. It’s faster paced and shorter than the original. Though I have to say that I prefer ‘NEON’ itself.
The last track on the album ‘Soul Lady’ is the acoustic version of ‘Cherries Jubiles’. That came out on the same single album as ‘Cherries Jubiles’.
Overall
‘Soul Lady’ by YUKIKA is a solid full album, though I wish there were a couple more original songs instead of the pre-releases. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it though. I can’t wait for this to come on Spotify. For now, here’s her Artist profile so keep an eye out.
