Sugawara Sayuri is an intriguing artist, in my opinion. I don’t think I could call any of her releases particularly exceptional, but I still find myself drawn to her. She may not be outstanding, but her advantage is that she delivers rock-solid, consistently-good R&B pop. Open The Gate continues that, but with a slight twist. Sayuri’s last major release, Forever, introduced some experimentation into her work; she added electric guitar and also recorded one of her best songs to date, an electrorock number titled “Fly.” Sugawara attempted to continue that somewhat experimental pattern with her latest album to relative success. Open The Gate shows a desire on her part to expand her musical repertoire and that, in its own way, makes the album a somewhat remarkable release.
Although she decided to experiment more on this album, it wouldn’t be a Sugawara Sayuri album without a good smattering of R&B mid-tempos. What sets her R&B songs apart from the rest of the crowd, though, is her voice. To put it simply, Sayuri has one of the better voices I’ve heard come out of mainstream Japanese music. She’s not a huge belter, an opera singer, or anything of the sort, but she knows how to use her voice. Sayuri has a relatively smooth, rich voice and while she doesn’t exactly have the widest range, she knows how to work within the confines of her vocal cords and deliver a good performance. Her performances are what make these decent songs really good. In particular, her delivery breathes life into “Koi no Mahou,” an otherwise dull song. That’s not to say that there aren’t some great R&B songs on this album, though. In fact, each and every one of them, save for the one previously mentioned, are delightful. “Habataku Kimi e” is a solid track set firmly in her established style, but she does it well, while a couple others push the envelope further. In the past, many of Sayuri’s mid-tempo songs were driven very much by the beat and the other parts of the instrumental were pushed back in the mix. With “Beyond The Sky,” the positions shift, and the beat is shoved a bit more into the background and the different strings and guitar are allowed to shine. This occurs almost completely across the board in the album, and it gives the songs a certain freshness compared to her previous output.
There are points, though, when Sugawara drops R&B completely and ventures into different territory. She tries her hand at dancepop–a style she’s attempted before–on “Love Again” and “Star Drop” to enjoyable, but ultimately underwhelming results. With experimentation, though, there are bound to be some duds. The genre she really shines in is one she just recently picked up: pop rock. On each of the rock-influenced tracks–“Basket Court,” “Tada,” and “ROCKSTAR”–Sayuri sings with a power and energy that’s exhilarating to listen to. The melodies are more dynamic and she lets loose with her voice and works more of her range. “Basket Court” in particular is a shining example of this and is one of the best songs on the album for it. One of the more shocking experiments, though, is “LETTER,” a country-sounding song. The strings combined with the melody and western feel of the song give off a strange country vibe, and surprisingly, it works very well. Sayuri has always been good at emoting with her voice, but it comes stronger in this song, giving the entire track a wistful air. It may seem unassuming at first, but this is a track that ends up sticking to you.
Open The Gate is, plain and simple, a winner for Sayuri. While her previous formula wasn’t bad by any means, she managed to switch her style up before it got stale. This album is a refreshing change for the R&B singer, and it signals even greater growth for her in the future. She’s proven that she can serve up solid songs in multiple genres, so I expect that we could find even greater diversity in future releases. Or maybe just some more pop rock songs. That works, too.
Open The Gate is the second studio album released by Sugawara Sayuri. It was released on the 14th of November and was preceded by singles “Habataku Kimi e” and “Ashita ni Naru Mae ni.” “Basket Court” and “ROCKSTAR” were b-sides to “Ashita ni Naru Mae ni.” “Forever…” was previously released on the mini-album of the same name.
Highlights: “Tada,” “ROCKSTAR,” “LETTER,” “Basket Court”
Tracklist
- Star Drop
- Tada (ただ; Simply)
- Itsu no Hi mo (いつの日も; Someday)
- Habataku Kimi e (はばたくキミへ; Flying to You)
- ROCKSTAR
- Beyond The Sky
- LETTER
- Koi no Mahou (恋の魔法; Magic Of Love)
- Love Again
- Forever…
- Kanade (奏(かなで); Response)
- Basket Court (バスケットコート)
- SONOMAMA
- Sunao ni Narenakute (Piano Ver.) (素直になれなくて; I Can’t Be Honest) (Bonus Track)
Sexy Little Things 