Contents
1. Amazing Grace
2. Hallelujah
3. I’ll be home for Christmas
4. We three kings of Orient are
5. Christmas Medley
6. Teo Torriatte (Let us Cling Together)
7. Ave Maria
8. It came upon a midnight clear
9. Sei naru yoru ni ~holy night
10. Cocoro no Rousoku (Candle in the Heart)
11. Remember the Kiss ~Dedicated to “New” NY~
KOKIA is fast and I’m slow, which might explain why I’m reviewing her Christmas album in March. But, better late then never! Please keep in mind that there are two versions of this album – the Japanese one, which is shown above, and the overseas one, with the songs in a different order and lacking song #11.
The album starts off with the ever so beautiful Amazing Grace, of which I’ve discussed the live version before. This version is calmer, almost a capella with the longest tones I’ve heard on a KOKIA album (not counting in lives, obviously). After two minutes, we get different vocals combined and more depth into the song, and string instruments make up the instrumental parts. It remains a whole lot calmer and softer than other versions, but it rather fits the calmth of a peaceful Christmas Eve.
Next is Hallelujah, a cover of Leonard Cohen. It’s mainly KOKIA and the piano, sometimes with a wind instrument in the stronger parts, a golden combination as we’ve seen before. KOKIA uses a softer voice, not as strong as she can reach. This seems a bit odd with a song like this, which is rather powerful. However, this soft voice gives it something breakable. It’s an interesting twist.
I’ll be home for Christmas is next, in which KOKIA sounds almost childlike. It’s a Frank Sinatra cover, although KOKIA’s version seems slightly longer. It’s hard to say something useful about this song – it’s a classic, and well-covered by KOKIA.
Next is we three kings of Orient are, in which KOKIA sings with a bit deeper voice, in a song that sounds close to jazz. It seems to be a more traditional Christmas song to me, more associated with the Bible story rather than with the Christmas trees and such. KOKIA does a good job expressing this – her voice is more sober than in her more upbeat songs, and she sounds more serious too. Once again, her English is really good in this song, especially considering it’s a 19th century carol. My compliments, KOKIA!
And now by far the longest song on the album - Christmas Medley, which lasts for over 13 minutes. It consists of an instrumal Silent Night, followed by Santa Clause is coming to town, Let it snow (which isn’t technically a Christmas song, but hush!), which she almost sings in a tempting way; then we have a powerful Little Drummer Boy, followed by a sober yet lovely The First Noel, a rather upbeat, rhytmically and instrumentally surprising Jingle Bells, by far the longest song in the Medley; and we end with the reprise of Santa Clause is coming to town, followed by Silent Night, in which we hear soft voices humming along and KOKIA in a soft, childlike voice talking to Santa Clause: “Dear Santa Clause, I know you are really, really busy today, because you have to bring presents to everybody, but, can you come to my place too? I promise I’ll help my mummy more. I promise I’ll listen to my daddy more. I’ll try to be an even better boy. So, please bring me the present I asked you for, and help mummy and daddy to all be happy too. Good night. Oh, and one more thing – thank you very much for the present last year. Good night.” I actually never noticed until just now, but I thought it was really cute, so I shared it with you here. The interesting thing with this medley is that technically, it isn’t a medley – the songs are all ended properly before the next one starts.
Then we have a Queen cover - Teo torriatte (Let us cling together). (Officially, it’s ‘ te o toriatte’ in Japanese (with one r), from ‘te o toriau’, grabbing hands – just in case anyone here is interested in Japanese grammar and found that extra r odd.) KOKIA starts with the Japanese part chorus immediately, before she proceeds to the couplet in English. In despite of the rather uphappy lyrics, I really love this song. KOKIA mostly shines during the Japanese parts and during the powerful bridge, which rolls into the final chorus. That piece rose goosebumps on my arms.
Next is Ave Maria. We’ve already seen this song before, too, but this time, it’s another version than on The VOICE. This one has more lyrics than just ’Ave Maria’. It’s the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria, sung in Latin. I like this version – it’s really soothing and tender, with a beautiful fade out. KOKIA’s opera voice really shimmers through in this song.
It came upon a midnight clear is another soothing song, reflecting the original Christmas spirit much like we three kings of Orient are. KOKIA’s soft voice matches this song really well.
Sei naru yoru ni (Holy Night) is one of the very few Japanese songs on this album. Church bells introduce us, and the feeling overall matches the previous Christmas spirit. I really like the instrumental parts in this song too, the slow tones that you can hear after every last rule especially, which that remind me of a clock ticking. KOKIA’s high, soft voice in this song is countered by some stronger instrumental parts, making this a well balanced song.
Next is the song cocoro no Rousoku (Candle in the Heart). This, too, is a Japanese song, and has a really breakable feeling to it, more so than Hallelujah. It’s KOKIA and piano, and a true ballad. This song is very soft, tender.
The final song now is Remember the kiss ~dedicated to “New” NY~, yet another version of Remember the Kiss which uses an organ instead of piano. KOKIA has dedicated this version the the New York from after the 9-11 attacks, and thus, it’s the English version we’ve seen on aigakikoeru. Her strong voice is back here, and she’s backed up by backing vocals, making it sound like a church prayer. It’s really refreshing to hear this song in such a version.
Overall, I think Christmas Gift does an exellent job in capturing all different aspects of Christmas. The days of gathering together, the birth of Christ, missing the ones you lost close to you, peace, and of course the gifts, of which KOKIA has give us one with this album!
