Asagaya Romantics "Machi No Iro" CD

The first full album by the popular band Asagaya Romantics has finally been released. It is a groovy, mature, yet somehow nostalgic and melancholic, orthodox pop album with a rich musical atmosphere that is linked to Niagara, Tin Pan Alley, New Music, Shibuya-kei, and City Pop.

Asagaya Romantics is a six-piece mixed-gender band that has been attracting attention since its formation with its musicality of incorporating rocksteady and reggae into new music and pop songs. Along with bands of the same generation such as Yogee New Waves and Taiko Super Kicks, the band has quickly become well-known among music lovers, and has attracted attention for vocalist Tomoe Arisaka's melancholic singing voice reminiscent of Minako Yoshida, Sachiko Kanenobu, and Misako Odani, guitarist Tomoya Takashi's sophisticated songwriting, and the band ensemble backed by a rhythm section with roots in Latin American music. The bittersweet singing voice that tightens the heart is sung over a relaxed backbeat. With an average age of 23, young people who have taken their first steps into adulthood write a message of sound to you who they have yet to meet from a city swaying in the sunset.

Along with bands of the same generation such as Yogee New Waves and Taiko Super Kicks, the band quickly became well-known among music lovers, and has been attracting attention for vocalist Tomoe Arisaka's melancholic singing voice, reminiscent of Minako Yoshida, Sachiko Kanenobu, and Misako Odani, guitarist Tomoya Takashi's sophisticated songwriting, and the band ensemble backed by a rhythm section with roots in Latin American music. Groovy and mature, yet somehow filled with nostalgic melancholy, this is orthodox pop music with a rich musical atmosphere that is linked to Niagara, Shibuya-kei, and city pop.

Asagaya Romantics is a six-member band consisting of Tomoya Takashi (Gt), Yuya Ogura (Ba), Tomoe Arisaka (Vo), Atsushi Ibaraki (Gt), Rie Furuya (Dr), and Satoshi Hori (Key). The band was formed in the spring of 2014 by the Waseda University Latin American Studies Club. In the same year, despite being formed shortly after, they appeared at the Ringo Music Festival and won the student band competition Sound Youth 2 held at TSUTAYAO-EAST. On July 1, 2015, they released their first double A-side single, "Haru wa Tooku Yuyake ni / Usirosugata," and appeared at CINRA-sponsored events exPOP and BAYCAMP in the same year. Although they have been gaining attention since forming just under three years ago, this is their first album to be distributed nationwide. The album begins with M1 "Yukari," which features powerful horns along with a comfortable rhythm section, M2 "Usirosugata," which invites you in with a sense of anticipation of the beginning with twin vocals that add thickness to the piano base, M3 "Chocolate," an unusual Valentine's song with breathy singing that permeates the listener, M4 "Road Lights," which has a strong reggae element with a pleasant dub-processed sound change, M7 "Cobalt Blue," a summer tune that makes you feel like you're running towards the coastline, and M9 "Spring is Far Away in the Sunset," which is a moving song with its melancholy guitar and flute sounds and the title sung repeatedly from the triplet entry, combined with the scenery, to create a compact album with nine well-deserved tracks that recall the changing seasons and everyday life, and which evoke the emotions that stir your heart. This album is a message sent from young people living in a town named "Asagaya" to you, a town you have yet to discover.

■Track list