Quick review on Sheena Ringo's new album

Hi guys, sorry I haven’t been writing recently, I’ve been busy since I enlisted for national service (basically mandatory army enlistment) so obviously not a lot of chances to write. But while I was in camp, I was pleasantly surprised to see Sheena Ringo’s new album “Hōjōya” was finally out.

And more unexpectedly, the features on it are really exciting! You’ve got Atarashii Gakko!, Ikkyu Nakajima (vocalist & guitarist from tricot), DAOKO, Hikaru Utada and Nocchi from Perfume. That’s an unbelievably star-studded lineup.

If you’re somewhat into Japanese music, the name Sheena Ringo must ring a bell. Often playing around with different genres like pop, rock, jazz, funk and even punk both in her solo career and with Tokyo Jihen (Tokyo incidents) With her unique, husky voice, it’s no wonder her career has such longevity.

In this album Hōjōya/Carnival the album contains seven female/non-binary features, with the tracks alternating between songs with and without features.

ちりぬるを feat. Ikkyu Nakajima

What a way to start an album, both Ikkyu and Sheena Ringo takes turns with the verses and they just seem to roll off one another perfectly. Being relatively familiar with Ikkyu’s work with Tricot and Genie High, with both bands having heavy rock influences, I wondered how’d Sheena Ringo utilize Ikkyu’s vocals. Interestingly they took on a mix of pop and rock and personally it works for me. The MV is also definitely interesting, with both of them donning weird wigs (lol).

生者の行進 feat. AI

I’d be lying if I said I was familiar with AI’s work, but her especially deep husky vocals seems to match the trumpets (?) very well. With all the trumpets/horns and keyboard + deep vocals it feels very jazzy while having pop influences here and there if that makes any sense. It’s not bad, but isn’t mindblowing.

初ＫＯ勝ち feat. Nocchi

For a group as huge as Perfume was back in the days, after almost 20 years this is genuinely the first time any of the members is getting a taste of solo work, which is refreshing. The riffs on this track are super catchy and truthful to the MV, Sheena Ringo and Nocchi feels like they’re going at it with their verses as if they were in a boxing match. Speaking about the MV, it’s probably my favourite of the lot, the production was stellar and seeing Sheena Ringo and Nocchi KO each other is definitely interesting.

浪漫と算盤 TYO ver. feat. Hikaru Utada

Sheena Ringo and Hikaru Utada collaborating isn’t new as they have done a few times, and everytime they do it always seems to be a banger. Something about seeing two of the biggest musical influences in Japan perform together is special, it can’t and won’t ever sound bad. I have to say they did a good job on this version, it feels almost like a calmer, R&B version of the original track. The acoustic guitar at the start with the keyboard in the background is also a really nice touch that I appreciated. While not straying far off the original track, the small changes did make a difference which made it very enjoyable to listen to.

ドラ１独走 feat. ATARASHII GAKKO!

A collaboration between AG and Sheena was something that I never really saw coming, but boy was it good. Probably the most rock-ish track on the album with heavier electric guitar riffs, which honestly plays so well into Suzuka’s strengths. The instrumentals & vocals on this track is of such a high level it’s probably my favourite track of the album. Although rather than a Sheena Ringo and AG collaboration, it was more of a Suzuka x Sheena Ringo collaboration, would have liked to see the other members get some lines in as well. Banger of a MV too!

余裕の凱旋 feat. DAOKO

Seeing the MV and listening to the track, I immediately thought “wow this is very DAOKO” By that I mean having a kind of weird MV together with pop influences in the song. I honestly thought this song wouldn’t work out very well with both singers having pretty different voices I thought they’d be clashing. But I totally underestimated Sheena Ringo’s vocal range (my fault) and she was able to adjust so that both her and DAOKO were in sync.

ほぼ水の泡 feat. Momo of Charan-Po-Rantan

Ending of the album with a funky, very flamboyant performance. Having listened to a bit of Charan Po Rantan, the huskier vocals from Momo was a bit of a surprise for me. That being it said that husky, sassy vocals fit the instrumentals and theme of this track perfectly, great way to end the album.

Overall, a great album with some crazy collaborations. Even though I only covered the songs with features, the rest of the album is also pretty good (I just don’t have time). If I have to say something about the album, it probably is the fact that almost every song is very heavy/hard, which can make listening to the album in one go a bit tiring, Which was why it took me a few listens to really get hooked on some of the tracks.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the album as much as I did.