It takes a lot to maintain multiple careers, especially when almost all of them require long hours of exhausting work. Anna Tsuchiya, however, has managed to do so -- a fashion model (discovered by Seventeen magazine at fourteen), actress (most well-known for her role in the runaway hit Kamikaze Girls), and singer/songwriter (Tsuchiya was a member of the duo Spin Aqua before going solo after their disbandment), the twenty-two year-old haafu (born to a Russian-American father and a Japanese mother) has demonstrated that juggling multiple careers can be done -- and done well.

Released alongside OLIVIA's a little pain, rose is Tsuchiya's third solo single and most commercially-successful to date, peaking at #6 on the Oricon charts and selling about 56,000 copies. Most of this came due to the title track's tie-in with the NANA anime (it featured as the first opening theme), which is kind of a sad thing, as rose itself doesn't really deliver. Founded on a gritty electric guitar line that rips off the James Bond theme, the track is a straightforward, incredibly-generic sounding rock track that wastes Tsuchiya's talent on a throwaway arrangement that sounds like it came straight out of some second-rate wannabe rock band's lineup: you have the saner verses where the instrumentation (lots of crashing cymbals and drums, wildly played electrics in the background) tries to be quieter so that the vocals can take the front, the "epic" chorus complete with requisite wailing by the vocalist and upping of volume and intensity from the instruments, and the obligatory guitar solo during the bridge (thankfully, whomever's playing doesn't try and show off). It all sounds rather plain, and Tsuchiya's performance doesn't do much to help that, despite the interesting tone she has to her voice (a slightly raspy, smoky hue, which makes her the perfect candidate for well-done rock music). During the verses, she sounds strangely whiny, as if she's out of practice, and at times she's swallowed by the arrangement because she isn't singing loud enough; likewise, during the chorus, her attempt at the dramatic wail ("I need your lo-o-ve, I'm a broken ro-o-se!") comes across as slightly underwhelming due to the instrumentation staging her up and the off-key background vocalist who accompanies her. The song's short running time (a scant 3:49) doesn't help either, barely giving the song time to breathe and develop, although with the mediocrity that transpires during its life, I'm kind of glad they didn't make it much longer. In the end, the track boils down to an overhyped and underperformed mess.

Fortunately, the first of the disc's two B-sides makes up slightly for the title track's lack of quality. Lovin' you was used as the theme for the Japanese dub of the Silent Hill movie (which is strange, because the song is entirely in English) and certainly is a fitting choice. Opening with an ominous string section and one continuously-held organ note, the song quickly descends into a haunting midtempo madness made up of a prominent-yet-soft drum beat, emotive and well-played electric guitar parts, and Tsuchiya's competent, well-performed vocal. It's an incredibly straightforward song, hardly ever deviating in tempo or sound, which gives it a relaxed, yet still enjoyable, sound. Even the chorus doesn't amp things up all that much -- there's a very slight increase in sound and strength from everyone, but it's not drastic or distracting and transitions very well from the verses. The most-changed part of the song is the bridge, where the strings return and a slightly-muted Tsuchiya sings a few lines before the rock returns. Her performance here is much better than before -- she's not covered up by instruments and her notes are clearer, purer, and much easier on the ears (no attempts at diva wailing, thankfully), even if her English is kind of garbled at points (Tsuchiya isn't fluent, but has a decent handle on the language). I would've made this the title track, as its quality far surpasses that one's.

Ah Ah, the disc's second B-side, originally appeared on Tsuchiya's debut mini-album Taste My Beat. Its inclusion here is arbitrary and most-likely a profit-gaining tactic from the record company since those who many not have bought the previous release most likely bought this one. The track sounds less-polished than the other two (possibly due to the fact that it was released as an indies release first), but it's still slightly more-enjoyable than the title track. It's a slightly-moody track (the all-English lyrics speak of being "much much more" and being "different from the others" -- possibly a declaration of Tsuchiya's independence as an artist?) and that's reflected in the instrumentation: the guitars don't take prominence but are rather relegated to a sort of time-keeper, playing basically the same riff back and forth throughout most of the song (save for the chorus), the drums are there but don't do much other than chime in at points, and there's a brief keyboard and string section that's pretty, but the song is carried by its atmosphere and Tsuchiya's vocal -- which is slightly one-note and wooden but still enjoyable -- making it an okay track, but nothing all that spectacular. It's there, it exists, but it doesn't do much more.

Tsuchiya certainly does have talent, but when she's given material that doesn't allow her to use it, she flounders. Her previous single had an insane title and was slightly repetitive, but it knew how to have fun and didn't try to be more than that. rose suffers from a title track that can't break away from the generic rock mold, and while the B-side tracks improve the disc's quality somewhat, they can't take away the fact that they're coupled with a poorly-done lead track. Skip this, as it's useless unless you're a collector (tracks one and two are on Tsuchiya's debut album, and track three was already released anyway).

ANNA inspi' NANA (BLACK STONES): "rose"
[ CDS | CTCR-40240 | ¥1,050 | 2006.06.28 | 1st ]
[ CD+DVD | CTCR-40239/B | ¥1,680 | 2006.06.28 | 1st ]

01. rose [ 3:49 ]
02. Lovin' you [ 3:54 ]
03. Ah Ah [ 3:14 ]

[ http://anna-t.com/index.html ]

Related Review:

OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (TRAPNEST): "a little pain" (Single)


Recommended: No