Crystal Kay releases her cover of Remioromen's "Sangatsu Kokonoka"

After a year of speculation and odd mentions here and there, the roll out of Crystal Kay's cover album has officially kicked off, with the release of "Sangatsu Kokonoka".

"Sangatsu Kokonoka" (which translates as March 9th) was originally released by J-Rock band Remioromen back in 2004. The song may be known to Japanese locals and J-drama fans due to its inclusion in the popular TV drama 1 litre of tears, which featured Erika Sawajiri and Ryo Nishkido, in what remains their most well known roles to date.

"Sangatsu Kokonoka" may not go down so well with those who were praying to Jebus and hoping upon hoping that Crystal would drop a bop or a banger and show those who got into her back in her J-R&B days, that a bitch has still got it in her.

My condolences.

But this was always the type of song that we were going to get first from the cover album given the direction of Crystal's past two albums, Shine and For You. Also, it's a really smart choice given it's connection to what is still a widely known and beloved J-drama, as well as its timely release. Although it would have made far more sense to have released the song on March 9th as Remioromen originally did.

March 9th is a significant day in Japan as it's school graduation day, hence the sentimentality that comes through in the song, even if you don't know what's being sung or know the lyrics.

I think the song is nice, but neither Crystal or the arrangement do enough to make the song stand on its own separate from the original. I think somebody like Ayaka would have done a great job covering a song like this. There's something about Ayaka's voice which would have better conveyed the emotion of the song, and sonically it's in her wheelhouse.

This is just nice. That's it really. That's all I can really say about it.

Crystal's cover album doesn't have an exact release date, but is set to release in Fall.

🎧 Stream "Sangatsu Kokonoka": Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music | Google Play Music

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