Gift" that could be delivered only now. Kaori Oda releases her fourth album

Kaori Oda, a talented singer with a large fan base who sings mainly theme songs for various titles of Otomate, a game brand for women, will release her 4th album "Gift. This year marks the 10th anniversary of her solo debut. For this album, in addition to the game theme songs that have been released in recent years, she has prepared a collection of new songs that she can sing only because of her accumulated experience. Some of the songs challenge a more mature sound than ever before. We hope you will enjoy the "gift" that Kaori Oda confidently delivers to listeners.

This album is an album that presents me as I really am.

─ What kind of work was your 4th album "Gift"?

Oda It's been about a year since my 3rd album "Make it", but there were many works that I met during this year, and I also had a lot of thoughts and feelings during this year, so I wanted to give shape to them. For those of you who listen to my CDs and come to my live performances, I think all I can do is to make good music and deliver it to you. Of course, I have always done this, but as I celebrate my 10th anniversary as a solo singer, I feel that I have grown mentally over the past year. I chose the title "Gift" without hesitation because I felt that now I could present my true self to my fans.

Oda──This title was chosen because of your growth, wasn't it?

Oda Yes, at the time of the first album "PLACE," I was still wondering if I could do it as a solo singer. I wasn't sure if it was good for my music career to put myself in the spotlight. But I titled the album "PLACE" in the sense that this is where I am now. While I was struggling, I gained experience as a solo singer with my second album "Colors," and with my third album "Make it," I finally gained confidence in myself as a solo artist. After that, with my fourth album, I think I have finally reached the point where I can deliver my own music to everyone.

─ ─ Perhaps that's why many of the new songs for the album have a mature atmosphere.

Oda: The music that I originally liked and was influenced by was mature music. However, I thought that it would not be realistic for me to play that kind of music, or it would seem too grown-up, but I thought that I could sing it now. That's why the new songs on this album have a slightly different atmosphere from the previous ones.

─ ─ There are five new songs in total. Each one has a different charm.

Oda: I asked three composers to write new songs, and each of them produced Kaori Oda with their own concept.

─ Did you decide the order of the songs?

Oda: Yes. I placed importance on the groove of each song, especially the new songs, so I arranged the songs in a way that the lyrical stories before and after the songs were somehow connected, and that there were common elements in the sound. I also changed the number of seconds between songs. Because there are so many different types of songs, deciding on the order of the songs was more difficult than on any of the previous albums, but the creative process was more enjoyable because of it.

─ ─ Now, please give us your comments on each song.