ARTISAN

A groovy sound and a creator’s romanticism, expressed with the nostalgia of a teenage singer-songwriter. Looking at several of the mellow ballads, 2 carefully draws the emotional scenery of a summer’s day, while 3 charges it with the acoustic resonance of piano and guitar. What these songs summon is no mere nostalgia: they have a color and afterimage that never fade. Even the smart sense of his writing has a glint in common with Babyface. In 10, Yamashita’s genuine reworking of a Rascals song can be heard on a Sunday afternoon in a sunny patch of light.