Morning Musume。- Naichau Kamo

Naichau Kamo is Morning Musume。’s 38th single and it was released on March 18th, 2009. It reached #3 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and has sold 50,313 copies.

♠Tracklist♠

1. Naichau Kamo
2. Yowamushi
3. Naichau Kamo (Instrumental)

Rapidly advancing into their 40th single release, Tsunku decided to switch up Momosu’s musical style(a change which would remain for their future singles as well) to what seems like a combination of Onna ni Sahi Are’s heavy use of synth, beats and other techno elements and AS FOR ONE DAY’s tone and mood. With Naichau Kamo the girls have finally managed to “find their calling” and really shine through. The song is made up of really loud synth with a constant beat. The synth takes a really high importance in this song as it is what practically drives the song forward, most especially in the chorus. The girl’s vocals are top notch, although with the loud synth things may tend to get a little hard on the ears(not because it sounds bad, just because it’s too loud). As always, the typical girls get higher amount of lines(Ai and Reina) but they manage to sound pretty well. Not only that, but the emotions in this song really shine through which is most noticeable when the girls sing together as a group. The background vocal(most probably Ai’s) really add a great touch to the mellow tone of the song.

This time we get a surprise for the b-side. It’s actually a duet! Yowamushi makes for the perfect complement to the a-side as it’s really different in its use of instruments, almost reminiscent to Momosu’s older works pre-3rd generation. It’s composed of bright and uplifting synth but the song actually has more of a darker sound due to its use of low guitar chords and the girls vocals. Niigaki Risa takes role of the first verse and chorus of the song, absolutely outdoing herself. This song was made for her tone of voice. For the second half of the song we have Sayumi which in my opinion was a very risky, if not welcomed choice. Compared to Niigaki, her vocals are obviously not up to par although she definitely tries her best. In a way, her bubbly vocals almost make the mid-tempo’d song sound a bit happier.

I can honestly say that Tsunku outdid himself for this single. Both tracks were arranged excellently although I do have doubts on the a-side getting a little too noisy and having placed Sayumi in for the b-side(instead of the more predictable choice of Eri) but their minor enough not to make either unlistenable. Sine the girls stick with this similar music style for their upcoming release, it’s not a bad idea to start your Morning Musume。experience with this single.

♠Single Rating♠

♠Favorite Track♠

Naichau Kamo