Hirai Ken - Aika (Elegy)

Hirai Ken is renowned throughout the Japanese pop music world for, among other things, his interesting falsetto vocal style. It is a bit of a divisive issue - people either love it or hate it - but on his new single, his unusual vocals work wonderfully.

As its name might suggest, Aika (Elegy) is a melancholic ballad. Accompanied by a light piano, Hirai Ken gently lulls over the early parts of the song with a slightly lower voice although as the melody develops into a fully orchestrated chorus, the vocals become more falsetto. His voice never strains once though and maintains a smooth sound throughout. The change in tempo and pitch during the choruses and listening to his impassioned vocals makes for interesting, and never dull, listening. Though it may take some time to grow on one, further listening helps the song reveal its true beauty.

Aika (Elegy) is followed by Kiss, a more upbeat pop song with some RnB influences. It is fairly airy with light acoustic guitar accompaniment. While Aika (Elegy) sounds like it fits perfectly in the wintertime, Kiss has a lighter and sunnier feel. Hirai Ken's voice excels again; he maintains fairly low vocals throughout that may make this song more palatable to those who firmly dislike Hirai Ken's falsetto voice. However, the lyrics are a bit sappy: 'Once again, don't stop kissing me', etc. This could turn off some listeners.

Pop Star ~ winter lover version is a new version of Hirai Ken's 2005 hit Pop Star. Essentially, it is just Pop Star sung at an incredibly slow tempo with a piano accompaniment. It is pleasant to the ear though, despite being a little odd if one was familiar with the original. The single concludes with a karaoke backing track/instrumental for Aika (Elegy).

Overall, Aika (Elegy) is a fairly strong single and Aika (Elegy) itself is a truly lovely ballad for the winter. Fans of Hirai Ken's voice will enjoy it greatly and it may win over new fans as well.