REVIEW: AIMYON - JEALOUS OF CATS (猫にジェラシ-)

4/5

The Cat Returns 

Hello! Kitty's back! Here, here, Doraemon. K-Pop may be the dominant force in music straight out of Asia, but when it comes to J-Pop, stars don't get much bigger than Aimyon. The Nishinomiya native with big billboards scrambled in Tokyo's Shibuya Station. The Warner Music Japan artist has just released her fifth album, on September the 11th, one month and change after the world's International Cat Day (not to mention six months before her 30th birthday). But beware, Hachiko. Aimyon's first album since 2022's 'Falling Into Your Eyes Record' is 'Jealous Of Cats', like the ones that bust the boxes of her mosaic, iconic album artwork front cover. Jiji from Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service'. The Cat Bus off of 'My Neighbor Totoro'. They're all getting the claws.

Neko-mancing all the way to the titular closer, Aimyon gives us another classic with 'Jealous Of Cats (猫にジェラシ-)'. About to have the envy of the entire industry as she becomes one of the greatest recording artists in the land of the rising sun. Lucky for us, these thirteen tracks come early for us on this midweek special before Friday the 13th. From the big burst of an opening '私に見せてよ (Show Me All You Got)', to the singles 'ラッキーカラ (Lucky Color)', 'ざらめ (Zarame)' and '会いに行くのに (Wish I could see you, but)' in the rain, the cat in the hat is back with this cream. All for the year of her career, as the Ghibli 'Castle In The Sky' fan provided a key voice for the Academy Award-winning 'The Boy and The Heron'. She told you she was going to see you like 'A Brain Surgeon's Diary'.

"そういえば僕は君のこう/いうところが大好きで/たまらないんだけれど知っていた？/「そんなの今話すことじゃない」って怒ると思ったよ/そんなとこも ぜんぶ 好きだなあ," or "Let's make plans for the weekend, let's go to the place you said you/wanted to go a little bit?/I look down and puff out my cheeks all the time", the tea house popular star sings on '駅前喫茶ポプラ (Coffee Shop Poplar)', a standout special like 'あのね (Anone)' and 'リズム64. But on 'ノット・オーケー (NOT OK)' she declares, "can imagine being/alone, and/the bathtub on the second day is also/crystal clear" ("想像ができる/ひとりで居ること/２日目の湯船も/透き通っているんだろう), like the lipstick sinkhole, single artwork. Circling the drain.

Under construction with Shibuya in the Japan TV 'News Zero' theme song of 'On This Day We Say Goodbye', Aimyon's music has a compelling sense of hope, even in the depths of despair. Whether it's, '朝が嫌い (I Don’t Like Mornings)', or a '炎曜日 (Firely Tueday)'. Never a '偽者 (Fake Me)' like the whistles of, " I want to pretend I don't know and go to sleep/I'm swaying up and down the night/Also, the contacts that are left on will hurt," ("知らないふりして眠りたい/上下に揺れてた夜を/イタタ また付けっぱなしの/コンタクトが痛むのです", in her mother tongue). Penultimately the '愛の花 (ai no hana)' of last year in red hair and flowers in bloom on the billboard, Tokyo way to the Toyku Line reminisces on its debut last year like last summer that didn't seem all that long ago. Showing just how much and hard, with a "ganbatte", that Aimyon has been working since locking it down during COVID. Ever since she heard there was good pasta. "空が晴れたら/愛を 愛を伝えて/涙は明日の為/新しい花の種 ("When the sky is clear, love is conveyed/And tears are for tomorrow/The seed of a new flower"). This 'Caturday' and stroke of artistic genius is purring with a stray talent that everyone wants to be connected with. "Like coins to a cat." TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: '私に見せてよ (Show Me All You Got)','駅前喫茶ポプラ (Coffee Shop Poplar)', 'あのね (Anone)'.

Spin This: Aimyon - 'おいしいパスタがあると聞いて (Heard That There's Good Pasta)' (2020).