CHiLi GiRL - MEBAE

Not satisfied having made her name as a traditional shamisen player with wins in four national competitions, Shinobu Kawashima decided to start a new project as CHiLi GiRL under the concept of “Spicy and Charming.” While you might think of the shamisen as a very traditional Japanese instrument, given that it is plucked and has no frets, one can easily play it as if it were an acoustic guitar, mandolin or banjo, making it possible to play rock, jazz, samba, and bluegrass. As Shinobu Kawashima, you could already hear these elements in her songs and performances, but as CHiLi GiRL, she’s taken it to the next level to create a diverse style of modern pop that opens your ears to the full potential of the instrument as well as her singing and songwriting. 

No longer restrained by the confines of being a “traditional performing arts pop artist”, CHiLi GiRL is a conscious image change, and it allows Kawashima to explore all the ideas and styles of music with which she has been enamored previously but unable to fully explore in her other career. That is until now. For MEBAE, Kawashima has been influenced by all sorts of things, from EPO, Minnie Riperton and Doobie Brothers to Perfume, Kotringo and Louie Zong, and in this album you get everything from city pop, electropop/chip tune (courtesy of GIVE ME OW), samba, lo-fi and jazz. While you could call the whole thing “indie pop music”, the use of shamisen not only gives it a very Japanese feeling, but also sets her apart from others already well versed in these sounds.

Take the first 30 seconds of the opening track 都会の森, the warm chorus of “ooh”s and “aah”s over 80’s synths followed by the introduction of funky guitar, drums and bongos sounds like it could be an Asako Toki city pop number, but then the shamisen comes in and gives it an entirely different character. Yet it fits in so seamlessly with the rhythm, for most people familiar with the traditional sound of shamisen it’s quite surprising to hear it this way. So it goes with the album, you’ll hear electronic piano driven dance pop (“壊れちゃう予感がする”) like YOASOBI and swinging jazz (“Bedroom Meeting”) and quirky French pop (“Kiss & Talk”) like Sato Moka (no surprises that Kawashima is also a fan of Shibuya-kei), but at this point in time, there aren’t many people who can effortlessly rip shamisen licks over the top of the music. Even GOOD BYE APRIL’s brand of modern city pop gets an extra dimension with the shamisen embellishment, and in the bridge of 泣き虫の星 it all comes together beautifully with the piano, shamisen, guitar and bass flowing in and around one another. For someone whose main claim to fame is as a shamisen performer, her songcraft and production are quite impressive, the songs are fun, the melodies are really catchy, and there’s plenty of hooks. There’s no obvious formula to the songwriting and each track brings something cool and different.

In terms of content, CHiLi GiRL enables Kawashima to fully assume a persona, similar to what idols might do. You can easily imagine these songs are the musings of a cute girl living in modern Japan - daydreaming endlessly, picking tulips, playing games, net shopping at midnight for the latest fashion, thinking about love and how to change her hairstyle to appeal to her crush. This could come across as shallow, it is pop after all, but it’s faithful to the concept and brings focus to the sound, because without a clear vision, Kawashima might just go off on random musical tangents - just because you can do an exotic Middle Eastern breakdown on your shamisen in the middle of a song (“愛の罠”) doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

But for the most part, the use of shamisen is natural and varied, it’s not merely “Shinobu Kawashima Plays J-Pop Standards” - Kawashima deserves credit for boldly forging a new path and successfully demonstrating a fresh spin on J-pop. With this debut album, CHiLi GiRL delivers as advertised - a charming and cute style of indie pop with a bit of spice from the splicing of genres and unusual shamisen play (and more than a dash of glockenspiel). It’s a distinctive style of music you might never have thought would exist before, but if you give it a try, you’ll be glad that it does now.

Tokyo ON also recommends: Anna Takeuchi - Tickets, Sato Moka - Glints