NEXT FUTURE

アルバムレビュー

Tetsuya Komuro may have fallen from grace in the 2000s, but the rules of J-pop he single-handedly rewrote in the ‘90s are still very much in effect judging by Girl Next Door. The kids want dancing and karaoke; give ‘em both, run with the idea, and indeed, Next Future is perfect fodder on both counts. Futuristic keyboards blast and house-styled drum machines thump with happy abandon as though 2 Unlimited were still kings of the world; you can almost see the dancefloor lights flickering just by playing the album. Meanwhile, Chisa's is singing her heart out; her vocals are, well, the girl-next-door type — you won't be able to tell her apart from virtually every other J-pop star out there, but that's the whole point. The synths and beats sound almost nostalgic, which is never good for a hip party album, and the music is very straightforward and not really catchy in the Black Eyed Peas sense, but on the other hand, the album has more energy than a Duracell factory, which is its prime requirement. It also boasts some clever arrangements: for one, Girl Next Door's lineups includes a full-time guitarist, and while he sits out good chunks of the record, his contributions, limited as they are to simple rock textures, add a welcome extra dimension to the music. There are also nice breathers, especially the instrumental "Artemis," which should've been a by-the-numbers soundtrack-ish string tune, but works astoundingly well for no apparent reason other than it doesn't try to make all the booty within hearing range get to shaking. A couple of softer songs appear as well, and while they don't prevent Next Future from being a fairly dispensable piece of techno-pop, they ensure that it's quite enjoyable nevertheless.