Jobie Reviews Music 132: Timely!! (album) by Anri. Requested by F63.
- ChemicalSkylines
- May 16, 2021
- 2 min read
Timely!! is a 1983 city pop album by Anri. It is 11 tracks long, totaling 46 minutes and 23 seconds of music. The album incorporates elements typical of city pop: funk, R&B, and catchy choruses. All these elements combine nicely in order to create a sound which is sometimes mellow and other times melancholic. Generally, tracks on the album have a more “positive” aura to their overall feel, with most of the album’s 11 tracks being upbeat, well put together melodies.
For example, in “CAT’S EYE - (NEW TAKE)”, twinges of funk and jazzy instrumentation lace the album’s 3 minute and 9 second run time. Its vocals invoke positivity, happiness, and overall project a “feel good”* sound.
While largely retaining the same sound throughout its run time, Anri finds ways to vary the city pop sound by having tracks that follow a variety of different patterns. The track following “CAT’S EYE - (NEW TAKE)”, for example, has most, if not all, of the elements which could be found in that track. However, Anri varies the sound of the track by incorporating cleverly arranged melodies into its instrumentation. At times, the track even breaks into vocal sections which sound very musicalesque.
As mentioned earlier in this review, not all of the album’s 11 tracks follow the same happy tone. “A HOPE FROM SAD STREET” in particular is where the album briefly diverges into a melancholic sound, with vocals to match. As with any album, it’s great to have brief divergences from the overall sound sprinkled in with the normal, familiar sound. With that track in particular, it actually fits really snuggly into the album’s overarching sound, from a musical standpoint at least.
My favorite tracks from this album are “A HOPE FROM SAD STREET”, “悲しみがとまらない I CAN’T STOP THE LONELINESS”, “GOOD-NIGHT FOR YOU”, and “YOU ARE NOT ALONE”.
Overall, Timely!! is a nice city pop album filled with a great blend of funk and R&B elements. The album’s vocals are delivered well by Anri, especially in tracks such as “YOU ARE NOT ALONE”. The instrumentation is also well done, emanating an upbeat tone for the majority of its runtime. In other words, this is an all around great album.
*I do not speak Japanese.
Overall rating:
9.3/10
LINK TO ALBUM:
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