Shéna Ringö - Kono yo no Kagiri

Shéna Ringö has returned to working as a solo artist, despite asserting that she was past that phase. Although Kono yo no kagiri is not strictly 'solo' in that Shéna Ringö collaborates with Shéna Junpei on the title track, the single is essentially Shéna Ringö working alone again. Sadly, it fails to impress.

Kono yo no kagiri itself is a bit of a disappointment and is something of an aural mess. It adopts a bizarre, childlike melody for the beginning of the song that then evolves into a song with musical influences- perhaps 'Oliver!' in particular. Shéna Ringö's vocals do not mix effectively with the male's on the single and results in a cacophony of disjointed sounds. Singing alone, Shéna Ringö's voice is wonderful to listen to but she only does so for short ten second bursts. The rest of Kono yo no kagiri is a weird and disconcerting experience.

Thankfully, Sakuran (Onkyo version) features Shéna Ringö alone. It marches down a totally different path than Kono yo no kagiri with a strong bossanova and jazz beat. Her voice is drowned out occasionally but at least it works with the melody and creates a grand, theatrical song that strangely reminds one of the 1940s. As a further note, she sings adeptly in English.

The third track, Karisome otome (Hitokuchizaka version), is brilliant musically. Melancholic strings create a dramatic and sexual atmosphere in a piece infused with Latin influences. As a piece of music, it's very impressive. However as an inclusion on this single, it's rather odd. The piece is entirely without vocals and could be a piece of European inspired violin music on most any CD release. In addition, it's a little short and ends up like something of a 'filler' track.

Musically, only Kono yo no kagiri is not overly pleasing to listen to, but as a complete single, it is disappointing to have the final track as an instrumental. It's not even a karaoke backing track but just an instrumental piece. Sakuran is a little gem but it gets lost on an otherwise muddled release.