you rarely hear songs this good from a new artist, but that may have sth to do with her label /wink
Uematsu Hidemi
Dear My Friends
Japanese
Oct 2008
since this was her debut, ill talk about both songs because they are different enough to make me suggest both. i also dont know which sound she might choose to follow for later releases, so its good to be open minded.
Dear My Friends is the title song of the single, has the better overall vocals between the two, is a slower tempo and is more artist than arrangement oriented. the different manners and emotions that she sings with gives the song more body and power.
トラウマ (Trauma) - the second track has faster vocals, is more heavily orchestrated, has a stronger accompaniment, and includes less natural (if you can call it that) sounds. in a way its a song that you would more likely expect from the jpop scene, but theres more variance in her voice here.
hidemis "soulful" style is rather uncommon in jpop, but it works because of how the songs were arranged, as well as for her lower pitched voice and more robust sound. i found these songs to be refreshing enough to be quite enjoyable, which is why i recommend both. looking forward for more!
btw, i laugh at how little of some of the songs i wanna talk about that you can find around on the english speaking net