[English Translation]
Shin Rizumu “NEW RHYTHM”
Text Daisuke Sawada
New rhythm presented by a precocious youth of 17
AOR and bossa nova-mediated songwriting, and the well-made and perfectly rustic ’70s taste production... this “NEW RHYTHM” lists finely finished pop songs that would even remind us of the word ‘veteran.’ To your surprise, though, Shin Rizumu, the artist who composed, arranged, and sung all the tracks, is only a 17-year-old boy. When he was a middle-school student, he acquired skills in playing musical instruments such as the bass, guitar, drums, keyboards and DTM one after another, and then started to compose songs at the same time. This enfant terrible received widespread attention for the first time when he put his home-recorded music online. The outpouring of his gifted sound received an excellent response that led him to distribute a ‘then’-free digital EP from Ano(t)raks label and release a CD-R in 2014. Gaining recognition little by little, his name caught ears of indie pop-followers by early 2015. And following all this, “NEW RHYTHM” is the first album and the first nationwide distributed disk to be delivered to us.
The sound of this piece was produced by Isao Takano, known for producing and collaborating with many musicians. Also, musicians such as Shigeru Komatsu (the drummer of the pop/rock band NONA REEVES) and Fanfan (the trumpeter, keyboardist, vocalist of the famous rock band Quruli) joined the recording. Shin Rizumu’s vision of a multilayered and multi-colored arrangement is realized excellently by mellow ensembles calling strings and a horn section together. He is as sophisticated and dignified as Tomita Lab (a renowned producer who has produced many artists including KIRINJI, the band Shin Rizumu respects the most). And his joy to spin music freely is fully packed in the disk.
The fully mature quality of this album is so unlike a job by a teenager, while on the other hand, his delicate sensibility which is unique to a teenager is etched beautifully in his lyrics. As the precicious talent and fresh sensibility co-exist on a rare balance, it’s reasonable to refer to the first work of Yumi Arai (one of the most established J-pop female singers since the ’70s) even though the type of their music are different. With the perfect real name Rizumu (=rhythm), the gifted musician’s path is just about to start with this dazzling masterpiece.
