Oh, I love me some Koda Kumi.
As one of J-Pop’s naughtiest pop divas, Kumi-chan’s always managed to bring the heat — not just with her overt sexuality and, um inspired choreography, but for her controversial thoughts too — like the time she had to issue a public apology for claiming that a woman’s private parts “go rotten” if they don’t push out a baby by 35. Oh, Kuu.
But when she’s not scandalizing the nation, Kumi also loves to raise the temperature by releasing some amazing multi-track EPs for the summer, including 2006’s “4 Hot Wave” and 2008’s “3 Splash.” And this year’s no different!
Kuu-chan’s coming out with a brand new compilation called Summer Trip on July 31 — her 55th single overall, sweet Jeebus — which includes 3 tracks: “LA LA LA LA LA,” the grammatically dubious “Is This Trap?” and “Touch Down” — a cover of a JoJo demo.
A cover of Queen Jo? It’s true! “Touch Down,” which was originally recorded by JoJo and produced by Toby Gad, which leaked last April. Kumi’s taken the scorching electro sizzler and given it her own flirty flair, along with a video that combines the steaminess of her own “Ima Sugu Hoshii,” the ponytail-grabbing urbanity of Urbanney “Scream & Shout” remix video and a little bit of the glam of 2NE1 member CL‘s “The Baddest Female” to boot.
“LALALALALA,” on the other hand, is one of Kumi’s rockier offerings in a hot minute. I’m never one to opt for trading out the 808s for a bunch of guitars, but it’s a fun enough summery pop-rock offering. Also, the chorus melody sort of reminds me of a more uptempo version of Shontelle‘s “T-Shirt,” so there’s that. Beyond the song, it’s pretty neat watching Kumi rock Legendtina‘s “Your Body” Kool-Aid pink extensions and walk amongst basics and lessers along the coast in California.
“Is This Trap?” is the third and final track to premiere off of Summer Trip, which just premiered on Japanese radio this morning — and it just might be the most major of the three. The club-pop anthem is as bouncy and jubilant as David Guetta‘s “Who’s That Chick?” with Rihanna, including some adorably breathless lyricism (“You are my dream! Is this trap? I don’t know!”) and ridiculously catchy post-chorus chants (“Oh-WHOA-oh-oh!”) It’s pretty massive, and a solid way to round out the collection.
So go ahead and start packing your bags — the Summer Trip is approaching shortly.
‘Summer Trip’ will be released on July 31. (YesAsia)