Natsumi Abe - 22sai no watashi

After years as Morning Musume's leading lady, Natsumi Abe graduated and went solo, debuting with her first single 22sai no watashi. The single was highly anticipated, and along with the excitement came high expectations.

22sai no watashi holds a lot of the sparkly sound of Morning Musume with a much more mature feel. It's a very polished song, and Natsumi Abe reveals the experience gained from her prior band. Her vocals are strong, smooth and relaxing to listen to, yet deliver a sound that's not a far cry from her earlier works. The opening vocals give way to a jazzy chorus that still maintains the symphonic feel of the arrangement but radiates its cheerful undertones. The song borders on a slow track, but Natsumi Abe's empowered vocals push it over the edge to a lively pop track.

The single is spiced up with Yuuyakezora, which is a bit more on the experimental pop side with heavy arranging, electronic manipulation and a play on vocals. It starts out with an echoed guitar that jumps between speakers before going to slightly muffled vocals that sound almost dark. However, just as quickly as it came, the distortion is pulled from the vocals, making her voice crystal clear and stick out like a sore thumb. As the song builds up to what should be a powerful pinnacle, it drops back down repeatedly, not releasing the tension and leaving us hanging. The only drama in the song is the twenty second spoken stanza during the guitar solo before the guitar throws us back into the final chorus. In comparison to 22sai no watashi, it's the more disappointing of the tracks and is a little all over the place.

The instrumental version of 22sai no watashi really does nothing as an addition to the CD. In this version, there is a low pitched whine throughout the song that is masked by the vocals in the normal addition. Also, when the song reaches the chorus, we discover it still contains English background vocals. These additions show the flaws of the arrangement and makes this polished song suddenly look like child's play.

For fans of Natsumi Abe, this is a bit of a shaky start to what proves later to be a strong solo career. 22sai no watashi shows she's ready to start, but not quite ready to deliver what should be a strong debut release, despite her experience and talent.