In the void left by Chihiro Onitsuka's unfortunate post-surgery hiatus, the Japanese music scene was left with very few "true" balladeers. One of the few remaining is Jun Shibata, a twenty-nine year-old singer, songwriter and pianist whose music is quite similar, stylistically, to Onitsuka's pre-hiatus material.

This single, whose tracks are both featured on Shibata's fourth album watashi, was the last to be released on her former label Dreamusic, which she left in September 2005 (after releasing a compilation of her singles and a second video clip collection). Even though it's a recut, it still contains two incredibly great tracks from this talented (and often underrated) artist.

maboroshi tackles Shibata's more mysterious, romantic side, opening with a beautifully wistful piano line over mournful-sounding cello, before dropping the piano and strings to simple background instruments and allowing Shibata free reign of the song with her impassioned vocal. Although she doesn't quite have the uniquely-distinctive vocal tone of fellow crooner Onitsuka, and her higher notes may tend to be a bit grating on the ears at times, she works well with what she's got. There aren't any histronics or vocal gymnastics here (as others who sing "ballads" tend to do), just a basic melody line that only adds atmosphere to this well-crafted piece. The track's meditative (with an always-impressive use of the piano as the central instrument), relaxing, and manages to command the listener's attention well enough that it doesn't automatically become "background music".

okaerinasai. takes Shibata's love of the piano and merges it with modern pop sensibility enough so that it sounds like a typical Shibata song at first listen (stunning piano solo over a light drum beat and (what's this?!) electric guitar) but also sounds like something new and unexpected. The mid-tempo drums keep pace, the guitar resonates in the background, and the piano provides its always-prominent, always-wonderful backup as Shibata races over the verses, a wistful note in her voice; however, once the chorus hits, this song becomes anything but typical -- yes, the instrumentation is the same, but the volume's punched up so much that it may be surprising to some listeners at first listen. It's not quite rock-influenced, but it's as exciting as I've heard Shibata's music get, and I, for one, love it. Along with the increased instrumentation comes a stronger, harder-edged performance from Shibata, which just makes the song that much better. It originally opened the album, and here, it loses none of its appeal by going second.

(Oh, and that guitar solo in the bridge? Absolute love.)

There may be only two songs here, and the total time of the disc may be under ten minutes, but this is approximately ten minutes that's well-spent: Shibata gives us two different sides of herself on the songs here, and she displays each with a playfulness and romanticism that's hard to resist. Whether she left her old label due to creative differences or just because she needed a "new start", she's got a lot of music under her belt so far, and those musical horizons can only keep expanding.

Recommended: Yes