Considering all of the summery pop and then R&B that has illustrated the career of Anri （杏里）for decades, I thought it was time to once again go all the way back to her beginnings. So, I went to her very first album, "Apricot Jam" from November 1978 and gave that another listen after so long. Of course, the first song on the album was the original version of the classic "Olivia wo Kikinagara"（オリビアを聴きながら）, by far the most well-known track.
However, another track on "Apricot Jam" also stood out. "Sozorosamu" (Biting Cold) was written and composed by singer-songwriter Keiko Maruyama（丸山圭子）, and it tells a tale about a relationship that has perhaps gone a bit cold from the woman's point of view as the couple, nominally hand-in-hand, take a walk during late fall. Despite the melancholy lyrics, the music struck me as being a laid-back mix of Yumi Matsutoya （松任谷由実）from that period and the Bee Gees. I think anyone who started out as a fan of Anri from the 80s as I did may find listening to the light disco-pop and the more low-key vocals of a teenaged Eiko Kawashima（川嶋栄子）on this song quite interesting. And certainly, I'm now also more interested in finding about some of Maruyama's arrangements for other singers.
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| Anri -- Apricot Jam |
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