Artist: Koda Kumi
Album: “Love Across the Ocean” EP
Label: Rhythm Zone
Year: 2002

Intro

Anytime I step foot into a record store, I have a habit of digging through CDs looking for hidden treasures. In this case, I was in a record store in Tokyo looking for physical JPop albums I didn’t own especially familiar artists. I found this gem, and it happened to be from Koda Kumi. Until this point, I had not owned any album physical or digital from her, and I love her music. She was one of my favorites growing up, so it was a no brainer to get her album.

Good

There’s only two original songs, but I liked what I hear so far. Koda Kumi is able to blend JPop, R&B, electronic, and more into her brand of music. I did dig the titled single, but the song I really enjoyed and recommend is “The Meaning of Peace”.

Even the remix of “So Into You” was really good. It had some electro dub which I believe was a sound ahead of its time.

Bad

The EP is limited, but I did like what I heard. It’s pretty much a small sample of things to come later on.

Overview

This was a single album, and I had already liked what I heard so far. It makes me look forward to hearing the rest of the full length LP, “Grow into One”. I definitely plan on checking out her entire discography, not just the singles I’m familiar with. There’s so many songs and albums I can listen to.

Overall rating: 4/5
Reviewed by: Timtastic