Scratch (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)

With no track standing out as being too distinctive from the rest, as a whole the album's numbers blend easily from one to the next for a seamless listen. Most of the songs hook you right from the start. L.drunk (Track 1), for example, starts off with some energetic strumming and whimsical marimba chords, before launching into an honestly simple pop rock track about being drunk and being in love. Magic Music (Track 2) meanwhile charms immediately with its infectious hand-clapping beat and bouncy melody and lyrics that seem to come from another decade. Swinging London (Track 9), Joey Boy (Track 12), and Ground Control (Track 13) also have this pleasant throwback, dance-along quality, sounding a bit like updated 80s songs.

The album never quite slows down or speeds up, but maintains the same energetic pace all the way through while covering a range of songs and different tints of happiness. Her voice is particularly suitable for the soft fast songs like Snowdome (Track 3), an up-tempo and comforting ballad, and dolphin (Track 5), my favorite track on the album. The mix of dramatic instrumentals with clean and simple vocals creates a feeling of wistful freedom that goes perfectly with the atmospheric lyrics. Kimura's acutely observed flair for lyrical whimsy also comes through in "Alligator and Little Bird" (Track 4).

Those seeking purely pop or purely alternative offerings may find Kimura Kaela doesn't do enough of either, but I find it more impressive that she can take that same sweet voice to starkly different songs and make them work. In "Giraffe Tongue" (Track 7), she flits between lilting vocals and a mischieveously childish voice (oddly appropriate considering she first caught attention hosting children's show saku saku). In Tree Climbers (Track 11), the most rock track of the album, she makes her voice harder, lower, and rougher. And yet, in both cases, her singing still gives off that same feeling of comfort and directness.