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Official Promotional picture for PEACH/HEART

PEACH/HEART Artist: Ai Otsuka Product Code:AVCD-31269 Release Date: 2007. 07.25 Debut Ranking: #1 First Press: Bonus Track Label: avex trax

Ai Otsuka is staking her claim in the Japanese music world, with the release of her second single of 2007. “PEACH/HEART” reached the top of the Oricon charts, and spread throughout the country quickly after being used as the ending song for the popular dorama, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, starring Oguri Shun and Maki Horikita.

Otsuka, age 25, is an aspiring singer/songwriter and actress from Osaka. Ai is currently under contract with avex trax, one of the largest record labels in Japan and certainly one of the greatest independent record labels in the world.

PEACH/HEART” was released on July 25, 2007 and sold over 157,000 copies, placing its sales higher than “CHU-LIP”, Ai’s first single of the year. “PEACH/HEART” takes on a more “inside the box” tone compared to CHU-LIP” in my opinion, but it is by no means boring. It has a distinct “summer-like” feel-good mood, and lends itself perfectly to becoming part of your summer soundtrack. You cannot listen to this CD without a smile coming to your face.

PEACH

A strong start to the single. This song is up-beat and fun to listen to. The best scene I can come up with to best describe the energy in this song would be everyone running out of the school doors on the last day. It starts off with an instrumental introduction that’s light and peppy and automatically puts a smile on your face. The chorus is addicting and contains claps that I never seem to be able to hit in time. I have nothing to criticize about this song.

The promotional video for this song was short in Thailand and features various people at the beach soaking up the summer weather. Otsuka and her band lounge around on the beach and inside what appears to be an open air building on the shore and the video ends with them pushing a large pink lotus flower out to sea. Of course, this video is a little bit zany like the rest of her material, but this one does not leave you scratching your head about elements of the video like “CHU-LIP”. It seems to be a more put together image of Ai Otsuka.

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HEART

This song is certainly nothing groundbreaking, but is quite pleasant just to put on in the background to calm things down. The introduction starts off with Ai’s voice and a little bit of electronics, but builds to encompass violins, drums, and guitars but not much more. HEART has the same summery feel as Peach, but is definitely has a more laid back tempo. If PEACH was the last day of school, this song is the middle of summer, lounging on the beach. Although some may find HEART repetitive, I think that it is structured very well while maintaining a sense of improvisation. song.

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Renai Shashin -Haru-

This song is by far the “softest” song on this single, and has a R&B and ballad feel to it. The introduction is very simple, just vocals and piano, and electronic instruments and bass are added between verses. It has a very sweet yet simple melody that is very subtle, and the use of the classical instruments (piano, orchestra) in addition to the beat help this song to take on a very sophisticated sound that is different from the other two songs. Although you can see how it could be with songs that scream Summer, there’s something different about this song, so that that isn’t the first thought that comes to mind. This song was used in the movie “Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru” and was released before PEACH/HEART as it’s own single.

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Conclusion

A very strong single from Ai Otsuka, I really applaud her for toning it down just a bit for this single. I think that it was absolutely perfect, because I had been worried that it might be overwhelming, which is what worried me about “CHU-LIP”. Ai didn’t sacrifice any of her own personality by bringing the outrageous level down a notch. If I had to recommend music to someone who is new to the world of J-pop, I think that this would definitely be one of the singles that I would suggest, because I think it hits the perfect note with everyone who listens to it.

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Tracklist

1. PEACH
2. HEART
3. Renai Shashin -Haru-
4. PEACH (Instrumental)
5. HEART (Instrumental)