Artist: Crystal Kay
Album: “Shine”
Label: Virgin Music
Year: 2015

Intro

Crystal Kay is one of my all-time favorite artists in the JPop genre. She’s one of the people that got me into the world of JPop, and I’ve always enjoyed her music. Her music has always brought me joy. This 2015 release of hers is called “Shine”.

Good

The song that drew me to this album was “Revolution” featuring Namie Amuro, but this album is more than that even though this song is a dream collaboration that we all wanted between two legends. The remix also feels like a fresh new song with an EDM twist.

This album is full of songs that really caught my ear like “#Heartmelt” which has a slight touch of funk while “Someday” sounds like a 2015 update on a Motown hit. “Very Special” featuring Ryuji Imaichi of Sandaime J Soul Brothers is a Japanese remake of a classic R&B song. I also can’t forget about “I’m Beautiful” which is also one of the amazing songs of “Shine”.

Bad

Some of the other songs I didn’t name were good as well. It didn’t catch my ears immediately, but they grew on me after a few listens. I wasn’t a fan of “Shooting Star” from the start, but it has the potential to become a club banger as a hip-hop or EDM song.

Overview

I feel like this may actually be her best album of the 2010’s decade. She got back to her roots with pop, hip-hop, soul, and R&B with a splash of electronic. This album has a lot of variety that can attract new fans along with maintaining longtime ones. “Shine” is a pure mix of multiple different genres smashed into one album.  This is more than a solid release in my book.

Overall rating: 4/5
Reviewed by: Timtastic