Rika Matsubara who contacted me saying “I want cover Circus Night”. Since then we have started exchange.

When I listened to her 1st album which is now hard to find, I was very impressed and tweeted like this.

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《The album "ZERO" is given by Rika Matsubara. Her beautiful piano playing and singing has Brazilian music as the base. However, unlike bossa-style pop music, which was adapted for Japan by extracting only comfort and enjoyment, it is as if listening to a singer like Caetano, who was the leader of Tropicália as a Japanese song in Japanese. I was shocked by its heterogeneity. 》

Currently you can listen to it even with a subscription, so please check it out.

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Matsubara lived in Kansai area. Without specialize in music, she seemed to concentrate on her daily life and child-rearing. I was thrilled by the fact that such a great musician lurks in this seemingly small island country.

In the previous work "ZERO", the beauty of the sharpened sense of a woman trying to stand up alone in a headwind was outstanding. This time, the maestro Jyoji Sawada (Choro Club) was invited to produce a variety of sounds with excellent players. From previous work to this work, what kind of story was there?

The moment I heard the title "Tokyo Tower", I was surprised. It is said that the name comes from the fact that in front of the studio she visited every day for the first time recording in Tokyo, she has been seeing this radio tower.

I think it was a very big few days for Matsubara, which was a turning point in her musical life.

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It's my story, but when I was young, when I came to Tokyo from Shikoku for my brother's heart surgery. During the visit, I stayed at distant relative's home. Every night, through the window, Tokyo Tower flashed but I could not catch the whole picture because it was so close and looked so huge. It gave me a big impact. Seeing it at night, it looked like a real monster.

Nowadays, it's just a landscape that I don't feel any emotional feelings about, but for me at that time, it was certainly a symbol of something, fortunate or unfortunate. It was a symbol of acceptance and rejection of those who came from afar.

I can't give such a clean name. When it comes to an important album, my ego has to hold more. Although Matsubara's expression is not straightforward, she is warm because she has a laid back feeling of accepting the situation as it is and a subtle sense of affirmation toward others.

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I am strongly encouraged by the sea glass-like brilliance that I unexpectedly picked up on the boundless gray sandy beach.

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I hope this wonderful work will be loved for many music fans.

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Tavito Nanao

 

英訳 : Kei

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