ORIGINAL LOVE
Takao Tajima’s fresh new take on soul and his omnivorous tendency is released!
Text by Daisuke Sawada
Takao Tajima’s fresh new take on soul and his omnivorous tendency is released!
Takao Tajima aka Original Love is an artist with close to 30 years of career, who makes bold changes in his music with each album, making himself a man full of surprises for his fans. That said, though, on the other hand, Takao is never affected by time and consistent in delivering music that breathes soul. His most soulful albums to date are “Kaze no Uta o Kike (meaning Hear the Wind Sing)” from 1994 and “RAINBOW RACE” from the following year. These albums led to Takao’s big break making the two most sought-after albums by fans of Original Love.
About twenty years later, Original Love’s 17th album “Lover Man” has been released, rejoined by Yasuo Sano (drums) and Hideyuki Komatsu (bass) who also performed on the aforementioned albums as the rhythm section. The result is an album packed with refined soul with groove and sweetness. Enjoy the tight ensembles on “Shiki no Uta (meaning Song of Four Seasons)” unravelling the senses of the good old times as you sway lusciously to the music.
Still, having said that, this album is not about recurring to the good old 90’s. The title song has a discotheque take that was never seen back then. In a way, the album rather shows Takao’s answer towards the trend after Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”. The lineup of this album includes “Crazy About You” which took an electronic approach and “Konya wa Oyasumi (meaning Goodnight for Today)” which has an exotic and tropical sound. Without being limited to soul music and mixing different types of taste in one album, the omnivorousness of Takao’s musicality rings loud and clear.
A rhythm section which built the music of the 90’s and how that play should sound today… The album “Lover Man” seems to be the attempt to convey Takao’s such vision. An energetic and ever evolving artist that stays true to his artistry, - here is an album full of the freshness of 2015.
