Contents
1. Yume ga Chikara
2. a girl
3. so much love for you
4. Sora ni taiyou, anata ni watashi
5. Pinchi wa chansu
6. KIRARI
7. give & take
8. New Season ~Yume ni Mukatte Fuku Kaze~
9. Utau Hito
10. Yume ga Chikara (acoustic version)
Uta ga Chikara is KOKIA’s fourth album, and rather short with only ten tracks, the tenth track being a bonus track.
Yume ga Chikara is a special song, since it was used as the official theme song for the Japanese team in the 2004 Olympics. And it indeed sounds as a song to cheer you up. I could actually picture someone waving a flag on the music… Overall, it’s quite a catchy song and a cheery start of the album.
A girl is also a merry song. It gives me a feeling of summer, of holidays in which you don’t have to worry about stuff. I’m not sure if that’s what the lyrics would imply, though. Unfortunately, KOKIA’s voice doesn’t really stand out in this one. It’s rather soft against the background music, which I consider a pity. It’s therefore that I don’t find this much of a memorable song.
So much love for you is yet another happy song, especially the refrain. The song starts off rather calm, but the refrains are very upbeat with a lot of text. In the end, you just can’t get the line ’so much love for you how about you’ out of your head anymore… But I like the song, although it’s not something you should listen when you’re not in a great mood. The merriness would get annoying.
Sora ni taiyou, anata ni watashi is a bit calmer, luckily, after three pretty upbeat songs. KOKIA’s voice is soft in this one, too, but it fits with the song in total. The refrain is suddenly powerful and a nice addition to the song. The soft, musical ending left me with a nice feeling – I really like this song.
Pinchi wa chansu is one of those songs that cheer you up when you hear the first tones. It’s merry and inspiring: ‘YES, you can, YES, you do, now take a chance’. I always listen to this song whenever I need to be motivated, and it surely works. It’s not overwhelmingly happy, just enough to give you a boost.
KIRARI starts off a bit calmer, though there are enough instruments to keep it from getting slow. The refrain is rather fast and energetic, and catchy as well.
give & take is overall a bit slower than the average song of this album, which certainly doesn’t hurt. The refrains remain calm and gives you a chance to calm down after the happiness like in so much love for you.
New Season ~Yume ni Mukatte Fuku Kaze~ is, again, more upbeat. The Japanese part of the title would translate as ‘I go towards the blowing wind in my dreams’, and you can hear the wind blowing in the refrain by the way KOKIA sing the lines. Almost, well, blowing like the wind.
Utau hito is the major exception of this album. It’s a ballad like song, and apparently very personal to KOKIA. You can hear it, since she sings it with a lot of feeling in it. Her voice sounds pretty fragile in this song. It’s a relieve to hear something calmer and more soothing than activating on this album. I like the change. That, and it’s a beautiful song.
Yume ga Chikara (acoustic version) is not really acoustic – it is mainly KOKIA and the piano, and some violins and flutes in the beginning and the refrains. It’s a calmer version than the original, which is a nice way to end the album. I can’t really decide which version I like better, both of them are nice in their own way.
Overall, Uta ga chikara is a short, but mostly very energetic album. The title would translate as ’songs are strength’, and you sure get an energy boost from (most of) these songs!
