well well just fancy that , it's about time that my local country's paper did a review of the album in the life section of the papers today !
By Samuel Lee
"If the concept of 'pre-sales' in the film industry could be appiled to J-pop , Ken Hirai's 7th & latest full length outing would stand up as a successful case study .
12 of the album's 13 tracks were apparently commissioned as theme songs for movies , anime or TV commericals - this meant that the bulk of the financing & budget for the production & marketing of the album would largely have been taken care of way before its release .
Such is the clout these days of the Eurasian-looking Osaka-born Japanese R&B pop icon , who produced it & wrote 11 o the tunes . Some naysayers have mistakenly & unfairly alleged that the 36 year old has thrown R&B out of the window in favour of bubblegum pop .
On the whole , FAKIN' POP is decidely more playful (as evinced by cuts like POP STAR & Twenty ! Twenty ! Twenty !) & banks on its swoonsome balladry (Canvas , Upset & Utsukushii Hito) . But it's hardly of the bubblegum variety .
His erstwhile soulful vibe is still very much in evidence on tracks like UPSET & fake star .
What's more , Kimi wa su.te.ki hears him dabbling in Pharrell Williams's N*E*R*D-esque funk & while he may not quite come off as a Japanese Justin Timberlake , you have to hand it to Hirai for a pretty decent try .
After 6 albums & a retrospective anthology , can you fault him for wanting & trying to change ? "
Rating : 3.5 / 5
By Samuel Lee
"If the concept of 'pre-sales' in the film industry could be appiled to J-pop , Ken Hirai's 7th & latest full length outing would stand up as a successful case study .
12 of the album's 13 tracks were apparently commissioned as theme songs for movies , anime or TV commericals - this meant that the bulk of the financing & budget for the production & marketing of the album would largely have been taken care of way before its release .
Such is the clout these days of the Eurasian-looking Osaka-born Japanese R&B pop icon , who produced it & wrote 11 o the tunes . Some naysayers have mistakenly & unfairly alleged that the 36 year old has thrown R&B out of the window in favour of bubblegum pop .
On the whole , FAKIN' POP is decidely more playful (as evinced by cuts like POP STAR & Twenty ! Twenty ! Twenty !) & banks on its swoonsome balladry (Canvas , Upset & Utsukushii Hito) . But it's hardly of the bubblegum variety .
His erstwhile soulful vibe is still very much in evidence on tracks like UPSET & fake star .
What's more , Kimi wa su.te.ki hears him dabbling in Pharrell Williams's N*E*R*D-esque funk & while he may not quite come off as a Japanese Justin Timberlake , you have to hand it to Hirai for a pretty decent try .
After 6 albums & a retrospective anthology , can you fault him for wanting & trying to change ? "
Rating : 3.5 / 5
