YUKIKA- Soul Lady review

Yukika arrives with her first full album- Soul Lady. After debuting with the critically acclaimed but commercially underrated single ‘Neon’, followed up by the dreamy ‘Cherry Jubiles’ and pre-release dance track ‘Yesterday’, Soul Lady arrived on 21/07.

This album is…it’s iridescent. It’s an album, in the sense of a thought out piece of work, which in and of itself I find notable. In today’s throwaway culture, the music industry has become over saturated and obsessed with numbers chasing and hit making- seeing a shift away from making actual bodies of work. Multiply that by about 1000 and you have the Kpop industry- in a culture that places youth and beauty above all else, the chances of stardom and sales are slim. Add to this just how many Kpop acts there are, and it’s unsurpsing that almost every Korean entertainment company focuses on pumping out a single with maybe some cheap filler ‘B Sides’, in an effort to turn as much a profit as possible on as little time possible. Thankfully Soul Lady doesn’t fall into this trope. Instead we have a story. In a press release Yukika revealed the album is a journey, about a girl who travels from Japan to Korea, to follow her dream of becoming a singer. Sound familiar? The mere premise of a biographical album had me excited in this album as something different, and the music certainly didn’t disappoint.

Opening interlude ‘From HND to GMP’ features soft, ambient audio of an airport background, fading into steps slowly speeding up, until we hear the plane take flight. The journey has started, and like a movie, the slow, dreamy background music (an orchestral version of debut single Neon) sets the premise of what we can expect.

Musically, this album is pure city pop the whole way through- from the outset we hear the dreamy, retro vibes we have come to expect from Yukika. Opening track I Feel Love wouldn’t be out of place in a classic love anime. Bright, pure and innocent, this soft little mid-tempo track sets the tone perfectly. This album sounds like how anime desserts look- impossibly sweetly delectable.

Sweet is the overall aesthetic of this album- each song flows together well because it follows this one consistent theme. However, whilst it may be easy for an album to slip into the territory of being boring by sticking so solidly to one musical genre and delivering it with a sugariness, Soul Lady manages to avoid this. This is due to the fact that it is multi-faceted- yes each song is sweet city pop, but each track has something different to say, is a different chapter of the story- from the more mature, excitable title track ‘Soul Lady’ (a clever play on words I didn’t quite catch until I read the translated English lyrics- she’s actually saying Seoul Lady- clever, right?), which just oozes the heady rush of Yukika discovering her new city, embracing the loneliness and endless possibilities, to the saccharine, dreamlike ‘A Day For Love’ which evokes that feeling of nice warm butterflies when you meet someone new.

The latter half of the album follows this same trend, but is where the true musical highlights happen- ‘Pit-a-pet’ is basically Yukika exclaiming ‘GAY RIGHTS!’. Water drop like synths build up into an ecstatic, stomping drop that I can only imagine would have suitably fierce vogue like choreography. Is this what they were bumping in the 80’s in Ni-Chome? If so sign me up. ‘Shade’ feels like an album closer- it’s not, but the reflective delivery and mid temp coolness are indicative of the end of Yukika’s journey- read straight, the lyrics are of Yukika initiating what she views as a merciful break up, but look a little deeper and question, is she breaking up with a man, or the city that she seemed so in love with just a few tracks ago? Spoken word interlude ‘All Flights are delayed’ follows, where, instead of hearing the soaring planes we heard in ‘From HND to GMP’, we hear Yukika talking through the phone, unsure- is she maybe rethinking her plans to leave? The follow up of remixes of previously released singles ‘Neon’ (1989 version) and Cherry Jublies (acoustic) serve as the perfect end to this album musically, as they sum it up as almost a movie like entity- the biographical feel of the music and lyrics has me imagining the credits rolling as Neon plays, with flashbacks of the various places Yukika has seen, people she’s met and feelings she’s felt, whilst CJ has the perfectly sweet nostalgia of the screen slowly fading to black.

Vocally, this album shows Yukika’s full range- her sweet, light voice fits perfectly on this style of lo-fi song, allowing her to emote the city pop feel of quiet reflectiveness. Again, however, like the music itself, Yukika has the talent enough to keep her performances interesting. Whilst songs like ‘I Feel Love’, ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Pit-a-pet’ all see Yukika staying in her softer upper range, songs like ‘Shade’ and ‘A Day For Love’ have Yukika reaching deeper, showing a rich tone, more akin to crushed purple velvet as opposed to the pink tulle like sound we have come to expect from Yukika’s vocals. As well as this, she also experiments with rapping like on pre-release song ‘Yesterday’ and the already iconic ‘Pit-a-pet’- this shows her attempting to take what I assume is a more authoritative tone, but the results are just as sweet as they are sassy. There’s no huge vocal moment- she’s not Whitney Houston. But she’s skilful enough- she knows what she can do and she does it well- offering charming, ear pleasing coos and crystal clear, bell like high notes, furthering her vintage ladylike charm.

The aesthetics of this album are absolutely stunning- the physical copy hasn’t yet been released but I will be getting myself a copy. I feel the vintage concept has really helped Yukika’s obviously limited budget- she is a niche artist doing a niche genre after all. All the album promo pictures we’ve seen so far feature a continuation of the ladylike, demure looks Yukika does so well- honestly her face fits this concept perfectly- can you believe a 27 year old woman can suit a full fringe so well? The album cover in all its simplicity gives major peak Seiko Matsuda vibes- it’s straight from the 80s when the technology to superimpose, photoshop and prop an album cover to the high heavens just wasn’t on the cards. This approach is taken in the video for ‘Soul Lady’ as well- the image of her superimposed on a bridge underway is endearing in its creativity.

Ultimately this album encapsulates how I see city pop- its story telling music- but the type of storytelling that is recalling a memory that is so distant that any strong feelings of hurt, pain, pleasure or joy have faded over time- they’re golden memories that are bathed in the soft light of your past. Instead of having everything sound so immediate and urgent, this album takes a step back- yes there is happiness, sadness, excitement and fear, but they’re all manageable- ultimately, it’s all okay. This isn’t a statement piece on Yukika as an immigrant to Korea. It’s serves as a sweet, muted, ladylike walk through her dream- a dream that she made reality and we get to reap the rewards. It’s a coherent, well thought out album, where every single aspect, from the music to the aesthetics to the vocals has been taken into consideration and meticulously decided to follow a set theme and it does so flawlessly. This is a truly impressive album that speaks of Yukika’s creativity, talent and drive. And honestly who could help but not be enchanted by her endearingly sweet smile and demeanour. I truly hope this is the beginning of a great discography- I want a sequel!

4/5

Highlights;

· Soul Lady

· Pit-a-pet

· Shade