OLIVIA – a little pain

a little pain promotional clip

Artist: OLIVIA inspi’ REIRA Product Code: CTCR-40237/8 Release date: 2006.05.31 First Press: Sticker Debut Ranking: #8 Label: cutting edge

Indies princess, OLIVIA released her first single since her hiatus in 2004 titled “a little pain“. This was also her first single in four years. After her relatively obscure and unsuccessful album, “The Lost Lolli”, Lufkin disappeared from the entertainment scene for around two and a half years without any single inkling of her future plans. Olivia would later mention that she had needed a hiatus after her hectic release schedule and the depression arising from low popularity. This left her fans from all over the world extremely disappointed.

Many were those who speculated that Lufkin’s career was over. However various fans kept holding onto the hope that Olivia would make her comeback someday. She was still appearing once in a while due to the media. She appeared as a guest on a few concerts later on in 2005 but never suggested a possible comeback. Olivia spent most of her time with her siblings in the states and tried to readjust her life. After a long silence avex updated Olivia’s website with a new layout in March and announced the release of a new single. This news was met with a lot of excitement by her western fans. However this wasn’t the only exciting news for Olivia fans.

The mangaka Yazawa Ai was the one selecting the two artists to represent the anime version of her ultra-popular manga “NANA“. Various other artists were selected by avex to interpret the character of Trapnest’s lead vocalist Reira. However when a staff member at avex gave her a copy of Olivia’s “Sea me” and “Into The Stars” singles Yazawa claimed that “It can only be her!”. It goes without saying that both NANA and Livi fans were ecstatic about this announcement. Olivia’s releases are beyond unique and creative and she also produces rock music which fits the Trapnest image well. Nobody was disappointed with this release or the choice of Olivia as representing Reira. After such a long hiatus, Olivia Lufkin returned back with an excellent single and managed to gain the attention of Japan again.

Since Olivia has been moved to cutting edge, which is avex’s indies sub-label, the promotion for this single was rather limited. Olivia only performed this song twice and was featured in a few magazines and online websites. However Olivia showed no inclination towards pushing this single to become a mainstream hit. Later on, avex organised a “NANA Street Live” to promote Oliva and Anna, who was representing the character of Nana. A few concerts organised exclusively for Oliva were later set to promote her releases.

“a little pain” was a rather successful release to Olivia’s standards who is far away from being a mainstream artist. It was her first single to rank on the top ten charts. This single ranked at #8 and sold 20,162 copies in the first week. Overall it sold 39,000 copies which were a positive improvement from her previous single releases. Oricon currently records this single as her highest selling single. This is quite a feat for a returning artist, since they tend to become less popular rather than the opposite after a hiatus. Due to the NANA tie-in, Olivia also managed to attract a wider fanbase in Japan.

a little pain

After her darker and grungy themed releases, “a little pain” carried a more soothing tone and a more positive mood. In an interview Lufkin mentions how during her release of “The Lost Lolli”, she was depressed and how she saw the world in a bad light. This was reflected in her releases which resulted in a drop in her popularity in Japan. “a little pain” in a way reflects a new version of Olivia who now feels more happy and at ease with herself and her music.

Olivia has tried to get into the persona of Reira to create a song which fit her personality perfectly. In order to do this, she read the manga and made sure that the lyrics fit the feelings of Reira herself. The lyrics vividly describe Reira’s discomfort, pressure and loneliness she feels as an artist which reflect Olivia’s career in the past when she was in the spotlight. Olivia felt lost as a popular artist because she was pressured to release on a tight schedule and this also led her to have a lack of a social life. In a manner it was as if she was singing for herself. This must have been the reason why Olivia was so enthusiastic to work on this song. Olivia stated, “It was fun to sing as another person. Like an actress”. She wrote many songs but they sounded too western and dark. She felt the lyrics for “a little pain” fit the style of a top Japanese band. The lyrics were written by Olivia in English. Consequently they were rewritten in Japanese with the help of Kawamura Masumi.

The song itself seems to be a hybrid of ethereal orchestral instruments and rock resulting into an interesting rock ballad. Nonetheless the song still managed to have pop influences, without sounding like a typical mainstream release. It goes without saying that Lufkin’s vocals were beyond impressive and simply angelic. Her beautiful and emotional vocals blended flawlessly with the intrumentals. I have really loved how her voice has managed to convey the hope and raw emotion which Reira feels. I find this song is the perfect reflection of Reira’s mind and Olivia’s past career.

iPod version (31.1 MB)

The promotional clip of this song was really beautiful and extremely artistic. A lot of imagery was used within this clip with symbolism inserted within them. There was an extreme use of the symbolism of flowers linked with spines which seemed to indicate that every beautiful thing has it’s ugly hidden side. In the clip Olivia eventually gets hurt by the flowers but still seems to be attached to them. Colours also dominate this clip. Although it certainly has a gothic touch, with dark tones and historical costumes, soft colour tones are inserted at some scenes, giving it a fairytale atmosphere.

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tears & rainbows

“tears & rainbows” has some elements from “a little pain” but has a completely different style. It opens up with a solo piano and Olivia’s soothing vocals take over, without drowning the piano’s notes. Minimalistic instrumentals are used and there is a constant use of layers which create a mysterious and haunting atmosphere. It has a similar style to her sister, Caroline Lufkin’s music, especially since Olivia uses the genre of subtle electronic-pop.

This song is yet another collaboration with her brother, Jeffrey Lufkin. They composed the song together and Jeffrey was in charge of the arrangement of the song. It’s quite reminiscent to her older ballads, such as “Cupid“, “Alone in Our Castle” and “Ballerina“. Despite the fact that it is not a powerful song it’s an intricate piece of art with a melanchonic mood which will mesmerise any listener. I find it’s a perfect song to relax to, because the atmosphere created by this song is simply unworldy.

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let go

“let go” goes back to rock, but takes an edgier direction. It takes up the interesting and catchy trip-hop genre. Olivia’s vocals are less polishes and immersed with emotion, suggesting bitterness and supressed anger. It’s also rather reminiscent of her older and darker releases, with a western influence. I am especially fond of the chorus which is rather infectious and will make the listener yearn to dance along with it.

Similarly to “tears & rainbows“, this song’s creative aspects were a collaboration of Olivia and her brother. Olivia and Jeffrey composed the song and he arranged it. In the BARKS interview Olivia mentions how she and her brother enjoy hip hop music and thus this song seems to carry a lot of influence from this genre.

The lyrics are rather intricate and have the darkest tone in this single. This is a trademark of Olivia’s lyrics. They are mostly in English and speak about various hateful memories and fears in the past, probably hinting a relationship turned sour. Olivia writes that a person must let go of these negative experiences and move on rather than living with these emotions. I assume that she is relating her past experiences which have influenced her and led her to see the world in a different light. Interestingly enough this style of music is fairly popular in Europe but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t appeal so much to the Japanese audience and this is why it was included as a b-side song. My only gripe about this song is that it is too short for my tastes.

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Conclusion

“a little pain” is definitely her best single to date. All tracks managed to convey a world of their own and a very personal side of Olivia. Despite the fact that this single was rendered to be more appealing to the masses it still carried the signature style of Olivia. I feel that finally Olivia is starting to be more in control of the direction of her musical career without losing her creative style.

After her hiatus, this opportunity to work for NANA was the perfect opportunity to expose her music and recreate a fanbase. I’m rather happy to see the direction Olivia is taking, since I’m enjoying how she has still remained a creative musician and has started displaying an effort to please a wider fanbase.

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CD Version

CD+DVD Version

CD Tracklist

1. a little pain
2. tears & rainbows
3. let go

DVD Tracklist

1. a little pain [Music Clip]

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About the author

Rinoa enjoys spending her free time writing articles, most particularly reviews, biographies and news articles. Her favourite artist is Ayumi Hamasaki but she enjoys listening to a wide range of musical talents from all over the world.