It’s that time of the year 😉

Yes, friends, it’s that time again—time for me and Al to dive into another round of Japanese music albums. But not just any albums, mind you. The ones we take a closer look at around this time of year are often special picks, ones that hold particular meaning for each of us. For those of you who’ve been following along with our December album reviews, you probably already know what’s in store. But if you’re new to the blog or unfamiliar with this series, let me give you a quick rundown:

The Exchange/Rate is a tandem album review series conducted every month by yours truly alongside my good friend and fellow Japanese music fan Al (from Omunibasu). Each month we decide on a specific theme with which our reviews would revolve around. We then pick out albums from our respective libraries which we think best coincides with that theme. We will then give the album we chose to the other person and vice versa (exchange), after which we then listen to and subsequently review the album we were given (rate). This project has not only allowed us to explore music beyond our libraries, but it provides an opportunity for us to see our favorite albums from a different point of view. It is our hope that this series is able to do the same for you and that you either find a new artist to try out and/or we offer you a fresh take on one of *your* favorite albums 

Normally, Al and I take turns deciding on the theme for the month, but, as I hinted earlier, it’s become a bit of a special tradition here at Exchange/Rate to end the year by sharing our absolute favorite albums from the past 12 months. So, for December, the theme practically chooses itself—our Favorite Albums of 2024!

If you’ve been keeping up with my writing this past year, my favorite album of 2024 should come as no surprise—it’s none other than Dungeon by muque, a band I’ve raved about countless times. (You can check out Al’s thoughts on it here!) In turn, I have the absolute pleasure of reviewing Al’s favorite release of the year, which, coincidentally, happens to be an album I’m particularly fond of as well.

Strap in, folks—we’re in for a good one! 😁

ーー

reina is a Tokyo-based Hip-Hop/R&B singer-songwriter. In 2022, she joined the creative artist collective w.a.u at the invitation of producer and composer Kota Matsukawa, whom she first met during their college days as members of the same circle. One distinctive aspect of reina’s artistry is her decision to exclusively write and perform her songs in English—a language she became fluent in at an early age. Yet, despite this linguistic choice, reina identifies deeply with her Japanese roots, channeling her native worldview and sensibilities into her lyrics.

＜Ａ　Ｍｉｌｌｉｏｎ　Ｍｏｒｅ＞
(＊Spotify link to the full album)

CDJapan Affiliate Link(s):
N/A

＜T ｒａｃｋｌｉｓｔ＞

０１・A Million More
０２・Good to me
０３・dlftm
０４・Silk Sheets
０５・Games
０６・Dogs

Ａｌ When I reviewed reina’s first full-length album in 2023, titled You Were Wrong, I legitimately thought it was one of the best things I listened to that year. Her pure R&B/hip-hop inspired flow, the way she sang entirely in English quite well, and her ability to tell an intriguing story about relationships and romance; it all instantly made me a fan of reina’s and I was pretty keen on seeing what she would put out in the following year.

Fast forward a few months and we’re graced with this new EP from her, A Million More. Now, this is gonna sound a little odd but to be honest, I was a little hesitant on choosing this as my ‘album of the year’. Not to drag this on for too long but considering it’s only got six tracks in total and is eighteen minutes in length, as well as the fact that it doesn’t necessarily have a cohesive storyline like her previous album; it just felt like I was selling some of the other releases I came across this past year a bit short.

However, ten whole months after A Million More was released, I… stuck with my guns. I just couldn’t let this one go; in my eyes, it was THAT good of an EP. For one, reina continues to show off her impressive ability to perform that Western-rooted, R&B style of music through emotional, piano-filled ballads like the album’s title track; or even with “Silk Sheets” not only giving off Erykah Badu vibes with its smooth basslines and clean hi-hats, but also reminding us of the more sensual demeanor she heavily expressed in her last album. Additionally, this EP can be seen as yet another example of how perfect the creative combination of reina and producer Kota Matsukawa has been for the past couple years. At least from my perspective, I strongly feel like Matsukawa does a great job composing stuff that both fits reina’s vocal styling, as well as her own personal tastes in music. And on the other hand, reina uses her serene and deeper vocals to really get the point across and elevate the insanely cool beats and rhythms that Matsukawa provides her (such as in “Games” where she and guest vocalist Lil Summer both gave a goosebumps-worthy performance). Again, it really does seem like both of them are on the same exact page when it comes to making good music and it absolutely shows on songs like “Good to me” and “dlftm”.

I honestly can’t give you a confident opinion on whether or not this EP is better than You Were Wrong. But one thing is for sure: reina further hones in on her talent and takes her abilities up a notch here, and that’s what made me fall in love with this release. If anything, this is a collection of cool songs that makes me stoked to see what else is to come from reina in the future.

＜Ｓｏｎｇｓ　ｏｆ　Ｉｎｔｅｒｅｓｔ＞

０１・A Million More
We are kicking things off with the opening track, which also serves as the title track for the EP, A Million More. If this is your first time listening to reina, you might be surprised by one key aspect of her artistry here—this song is performed entirely in English. Before we go any further, I’m just gonna try to nip it in the bud here and say that this review isn’t going to be a discussion on whether or not I think this is “Japanese music”, largely because we already had this conversation before in previous album reviews for the Exchange/Rate (namely the ones for Misato Ono’s something invisible as well as This Too Shall Pass by Wez Atlas). Feel free to check those out to hear my thoughts on the matter, but to cut a long story short: yes it is, and no, language does not necessarily override the unique sensibilities that a performer develops through their upbringing or surroundings. Identifying those sensibilities thus is going to be the goal to achieve over the course of this review.

With that out of the way, something to note about this song is that, according to reina, this was her attempt at writing a song akin to Ariana Grande’s thank u, next. That is to say, she wanted to try her hand at a break-up song with a more up-lifting message about learning and growing from previous relationships—in particular her own, drawing inspiration from her past experiences, as she states in an interview with Tokyo ON. This she accomplishes with the help of Kota Matsukawa, who for all intents and purposes is the main creative force behind the composition as well as the production of reina’s music. A lot of what can be heard on the arrangement of the track in that regard is directly attributable to Matsukawa whose handiwork is simply top notch as you’ll hear here. Matsukawa’s contributions aren’t limited to his work with reina, though. He also splits his time producing tracks for other artists under the w.a.u creative label, such as VivaOla and the previously mentioned Wez Atlas. Additionally, he frequently collaborates with salasa, an artist not directly tied to w.a.u but one he works with extensively. On top of that, Matsukawa has his own dance music project, voquoute, which features many of these artists that I just named—and then some. More on this later but for now, suffice for it to say, Matsukawa stays busy.

０２・Good to me
On the subject of Kota Matsukawa’s work as voquote, reina is also one of the artists who Matsukawa regularly collaborates with—beyond his role as the main composer and producer of her songs. I mention this because, in many ways, Good to me (to me at least) feels more like a track Matsukawa might create for reina as voquote rather than one he would make for her as Kota Matsukawa.

What do I mean by that, you might ask? Well, what I said starts to make more sense when you realize that Matsukawa mainly implores a different style with his work as voquote, which I briefly mentioned earlier as leaning more towards dance music—compare and contrast to the bulk of his work with reina which mainly comprise of R&B/”neo-soul” type tracks. Good to me sticks out as an outlier in that regard because of how fast and upbeat it is relative to the songs in reina’s existing discography. For what it’s worth, I do personally enjoy most if not all of Matsukawa’s work as voquote for that very reason where in my opinion I find that more club-oriented beats are where he does his best work. On a similar note, though somewhat of a departure from her usual sound (or at least, what some might have come to expect from her debut album), I loved hearing reina sing on a faster track like this. Pun very much intended of course, as the song itself is about speeding (lol).

０３・dlftm
I wanted to go back to her interview with Tokyo ON wherein she talked about a couple of things that I thought was both interesting and also relevant to our discussion here. One in particular is when, at some point during the interview, the interviewer asks reina if she “feels Japanese”. While this is mainly in reference to the fact that she writes and sings her songs exclusively in English, it also comes after she talks about her musical upbringing, wherein despite growing up in a music-loving household courtesy of her father, the vast majority of the music she grew up with and listening to was non-Japanese, owing then to her father’s distaste for Japanese music. Regardless, reina says that she’s “Japanese to the core” because she likes “Japanese common sense, group action, and reading the room and stuff”.

In broader terms, we can frame this as embodying “Japanese ideology,” which ties back to what I mentioned earlier about unique sensibilities being central to an artist’s musical identity. Take dlftm (don’t look for too much in me) as an example. One aspect of the song that stood out to me—and what I believe gives it a distinctly Japanese feel—is the subject matter. The lyrics depict a scenario where the persona emotionally distances themselves from someone due to being caught in an imbalanced relationship where the other person expects more from them than they can give. However, this emotional withdrawal happens internally, as the persona struggles to outwardly express their feelings or take direct action. Now, maybe it’s just me, and perhaps I haven’t been keeping up with today’s Hip-Hop and R&B scenes in the West, but this kind of passivity doesn’t seem to be a common lyrical theme. Typically, Western songs in these genres focus on empowerment—standing up for oneself, speaking one’s mind, and actively seeking what one deserves. In contrast, this song’s non-confrontational, indirect approach aligns closely with Japanese ideologies of avoiding conflict and prioritizing harmony. It’s a fascinating lens through which reina explores creative expression, offering a perspective that feels both culturally grounded and uniquely her own.

＜Ｗｈａｔ　Ｉ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　ｏｆ　Ａ　Ｍｉｌｌｉｏｎ　Ｍｏｒｅ＞

When I first mentioned this EP back in March during the Monthly Recommendation Roundup, where I featured A Million More, I briefly noted how I thought I might like it even more than reina’s debut album, You Were Wrong. That was a significant statement, considering how much I loved her debut—which I even named my Favorite Blind Pickup of 2023 in that year’s Roundup Awards. However, at the time, I hesitated to make the claim with complete certainty, largely because the EP had just been released, and I was wary of recency bias. Now, as we approach the end of 2024, I feel much more confident in saying that A Million More has firmly cemented its place as one of my most-listened-to releases of the year. Even with the “honeymoon phase” well behind me, I continue to enjoy it immensely.

This enduring appeal comes down to several factors, most notably its variety. I loved hearing reina get to explore different styles across the EP, from the melodic R&B with a pop-infused hook on the title track, A Million More, to the sultry tones of Silk Sheets, and the darker, moodier energy of Dogs. This range made the EP an excellent showcase of her versatility as an artist. In line with that, If you’ve followed Exchange/Rate or read some of my album reviews, you’ve likely seen me touch on cohesion and uniformity in music. Whenever I bring up these qualities, I always emphasize that they’re not inherently good or bad—they simply depend on the context. One album might shine because of its cohesive sound and thematic consistency, while another might thrive as a fun and eclectic “grab bag”—a term both Al and I use frequently. In this case, A Million More leans toward the latter if I had to say, and the better off it is for it in my opinion.

If you think about it, it almost feels as though A Million More should have been a release that we were supposed to have prior to getting a full album from reina. That is to say, an exploratory release to get a feel for what kind of sounds work best. I mean, to be fair Matsukawa and reina really kinda just knocked it out of the park from the first pitch with You Were Wrong. Given Matsukawa and reina’s having known and worked with one another in some capacity prior to reina’s debut it makes sense that they would stick to their comfort zone first before deciding to try out new things. They went and did so here with this EP and, in my book, I think it’s another home run for them.

＜Ｍｙ　Ｒａｔｉｎｇ＞


５ ｏｕｔ ｏｆ ５

＆

１０ ｏｕｔ ｏｆ １０

As much as I’m full of praise for A Million More‘s variety, I can’t help but feel slightly concerned about whether Kota Matsukawa has “a million more” left in him when it comes to crafting fresh, distinct sounds—especially considering how widely his talents are spread across the many artists and projects he’s involved in. Earlier, I mentioned how some of his voquote style crept into Good to Me, and I also noticed some shared elements between tracks he’s worked on in the past and songs on this EP—like salasa’s Taiyou ga Noboru Made and A Million More as a quick example. Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a producer or composer having a recognizable signature style. In fact, it can often be a strength. However, it does pose a challenge when that signature begins to overshadow the individuality of the artist they’re working with. When that happens, the focus shifts more toward the producer’s identity than the artist’s, which can dilute the latter’s distinctiveness in terms of sound. To be clear, Matsukawa hasn’t reached that point with reina or any of the other artists he collaborates with—at least not yet. But it’s something worth keeping an eye on moving forward, especially if his creative output starts to feel too familiar across projects.

ーー

What are your thoughts on reina’s A Million More? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below! And while you’re at it, share your Favorite Albums of 2024 with us too.

Don’t forget to check out Al’s review of Dungeon by muque over on the Omunibasu Substack if you haven’t yet done so already!

On Al’s behalf, I’d like to thank each and every one of you who follow and have been following the Exchange/Rate. This year has been nothing short of amazing for album reviews, and I think I speak for both of us when I say it’s been an absolute pleasure having you all along for this journey of musical discovery we’ve chosen to embark on ☺️

Speaking of traditions—before I let you go, I’d like to invite you all to the Recommendation Roundup Awards, happening on December 29, 2024! The Awards serve as my year-end post here on the blog, where I take a moment to celebrate the amazing year of Japanese music we’ve had. Typically, I schedule it for the very last day of the year, but this time, I wanted to change things up and give us a little extra time to enjoy the celebration. Mark your calendars, and I hope to see you there!

Happy Listening!