[Single] Ai Otsuka- Pocket

SINGLE REVIEW: Ai Otsuka’s ‘Pocket’

Ai Otsuka and I have thus far had a… Love–Hate relationship. I geniuinely enjoyed her latest album although I was very split on the idea of her ability to sing. There were songs on the album that I absolutely adored and songs that made my want to barf. I think that Ai Otsuka’s vocals are assuredly better when she is doing ballads, though I know that I can’t survive off of just those without getting bored. Judging by everything I’ve heard, Pocket is going to be a ballad. I’m glad since I’m not bored of them yet, but I hope she will someday put out an upbeat song that I love too. I guess we’ll see what her latest single ‘Pocket’ will bring.

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Well the cover track of this single, Pocket {Poketto}, starts out with gentle piano that set a calm and very ballad-ish mood. Otsuka begins with calm and attractive vocals that really made me want to listen to what she was singing, and this is already one of my favorite songs from her. I wish she had hit a few more powerful notes to make the ballad a bit more dramatic, but it was definitely heart-felt and very beautiful. It’s really a great song for the approaching winter season, and the quiet nature is really supportive of the relaxed feeling. Otsuka does a great job controlling her vocals, and although the music isn’t anything particularly outstanding, the way the two aspects blend together is fantastic and very intriguing. This song really pulled me in, and I will definitely listen to it for a while.

Vocal Grade: A- — Musical Grade: A- — Consistency Grade: A

Overall Grade: A

The second track on the single is called Ticket {Chiketto}. This song starts off kind of mid/low-tempo but builds up to a solid middle level speeds by the chorus. Although I can’t really call this song upbeat, it is certainly faster than Pocket. One of the things I always like in a song is when there are very distinct differences between each section, which I get with Ticket. The music is mostly percussion with a few miscellaneous other sounds mixed in, and Otsuka’s vocals are surprisingly good. A combonation of her own improvment and my getting used to her style has allowed Otsuka’s music to grow on me, and I enjoyed this song a lot more than I thought I was going to. Though the song isn’t really anything more than just above average, it presents a nice beat and well done vocals. I think it’s assuredly a B-side, but only just barely.

Vocal Grade: B+ — Musical Grade: B+ — Consistency Grade: A-

Overall Grade: B+

LIFE- LOVE CiRCLE starts off with some mid-tempo guitar which I found interesting, but not particularly attractive. Otsuka’s vocals are pretty mediocre in this song, and the overall background musical is equally unimpressive. This song is very average and lacking in any uniqueness that would make me want to listen to it. It’s not really that bad, but Otsuka doesn’t present anything interesting in the song, and the overall composition is pretty weak. I don’t like when the male vocals are included with her’s because frankly they sound very badly done. It makes the song childish and just too strange for me to really enjoy it. My other problem with the song was that it was very repetetive and didn’t give me enough diversity to remain interested throughout the whole song. The near-end vocals where Otsuka said ‘Hey’ a lot were kind of random, and I’m just really not feeling this song at all.

Vocal Grade: C+ — Musical Grade: C+ — Consistency Grade: C

Overall Grade: C+

SINGLE GRADE: B+