Yumi Matsutoya – “紅雀” review

Final verdict: 7/10 ★★★⋆˙⟡☆

You know, the pessimist in me craves something to complain about. And initially, this album would have been it – oh no, would you look at that, Yuming, THE Yuming, fell off! This album is BOOOO-RING! The demise of who was arguably the greatest figure in the 1970s Japanese music scene is upon us! Woe is me!

But as with anything else, I – for better or for worse – get overly sentimental about music. I figured that a relisten was in order; and relisten, did I. Through the several relistens I granted this album over the last two months, I came to the realization that this record ain’t half shabby – more on that later though, for now, I must complain still.

Do you see this album cover? It’s inexplicably ugly to my eye. I can’t exactly pinpoint why that is – I mean, the outfit is awesome (something I myself would wear in my day-to-day), the pose is some high-fashion shit, and Yuming looks as fierce as ever. Mogged. I quite enjoy the color palette as well, but something about the combination of all those factors? Ugly. Fucking ugly, even (yes, I am allowed to use potty words. It’s the Internet – get with it). And, mind you, Yuming had some truly brilliant, visionary artwork over the course of her years – I consider her a visual spectacle as much as I deem her a recording musician. So this album cover is just… God, I don’t even want to think about it.

But on we move – this is the first LP Yuming released upon getting wed to Masataka Matsutoya, and there’s quite a bit to unpack about it. For one, this album is noticeably more sluggish than her past output – most of the songs are slow in tempo, with muted performance by the (very skilled, by the way) musicians. Oddly enough, several songs here are heavily saturated with samba/bossa nova elements – which I guess isn’t entirely unprecedented, if we are to recall the vaguely latin “避暑地の出来事” off “The 14th Moon”.

I am particularly fond of the opening track here, “9月には帰らない”. It is a sweet and mellow ballad, setting the album off to an extremely promising start. The subsequent two tracks are also a lot of fun, too (with “私なしでも” being an upbeat, uplifting number, helping temporarily salvage this album’s sleepy sequencing). And this is right about where I’ll say something mildly controversial, by declaring that I don’t really like the title track, “紅雀” – sort of comes through one ear, and out the other. An elusive presence, it appears and it promptly disintegrates, without leaving behind any evidence that it was ever there.

The B-side is a lot more uneventful than the A-side. “罪と罰” somewhat gets on my nerves for reasons that, once again, I cannot name. “So sad… so sad…”, yeah, I too would be. “Laundry-Gateの思い出” is quite bangin’, with big horns leading the way – it quite reminds me of “キャサリン”, which was to be released on “流線形’80” later that same year. Finally, the closer is a bare bones ballad, much in the vein of the opening track, if a little less good.

Yuming really reached the lowest low she was destined to hit in the 1970s with “紅雀” – and the funny thing is, this album ain’t even bad! But try contrasting it to its discography neighbors of “The 14th Moon” and “流線形’80”, or even “OLIVE” (a more distant relative), and you’ll surely be able to see how it pales in comparison to its great contemporaries. Still though, Yuming was onto something, something solid, with glimpses of excellence shining through at every turn. The glitter never dies out – not in the wonderful land of Yuming! 7/10.