Search - Chara :: Soul Kiss

A very attractive album

Steven Guy | Croydon, South Australia | 11/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The songs on Soul Kiss are very beguiling and sung in an unpretentious, but skillful way by Chara. The title track should be enough to convince the sceptics of J-Pop.



How do I describe this album? Well, if Scritti Politti had ever worked with a Japanese female singer, the result may have been something like "Soul Kiss". Or, perhaps, if Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis ever got to Japan, this might have been the result. The song "Are wa ne" could almost have come from a Cherrelle album.



Luscious keyboard sounds, infectious rhythms and grooves and devil-may-care vocals from Chara, including some quite surprising high notes! (no, she isn't a Japanese Mariah Carey! She actually can hold a tune, unlike Ms Carey!)



For those who find a lot of J-Pop too infused with electric guitars and Punk-Pop aesthetics, then "Soul Kiss" is a very charming alternative."