A new mini-album from former Morning Musume member Maki Goto, proving there is life after the Hello! Project!

1. Queen Bee with BIGGA RAIJI
2. Lady-Rise
3. Candy
4. TEAR DROPS with KG
5. Mine with KEN the 390
6. Fly Away
7. Plastic Lover
8. with…

For the past 18 months, Ms. Goto has certainly be teasing us with how her career would play out after the Hello! Project.  There was her blog, following her progress in LA which launched last summer, a performance at the Avex shareholders concert, and then – nothing.  Finally, this year, Maki has begun releasing songs again, under the SWEET BLACK project.  Although this is not, as seen by many, the start of her solo career, it has given her a chance to wipe the slate clean, not only of her former idol image, but also of the scandal involving her brother.

And credit due to Avex also.  They’ve handled Maki and the development of this mini album amazingly well.  Not only does it showcase Maki’s vocal skills, but it also has enabled her to create a variety of images for herself.  Not to say I had my doubts, especially with the PV for Lady-Rise, where they seemed almost content as selling Maki as a Kumi Koda double – doubts which have since been quashed.

Unlike her previous albums with Hello! Project, this album lends itself to an RnB style close to that of Kumi or Namie’s styles.  However, Maki holds her own.  Her voice has a more mature tone after her training, and copes well with the majority of these songs, although there are only a couple of tracks which really test the extent of her vocals.

But then again… I’m not entirely impressed with this album.  As expected, with most albums, there are tracks that have purpose, and tracks which pad out the album – well there’s only one track I would brand as a padding track, that being Candy, which sounds disappointing after the strong start of Queen Bee and Lady-Rise.  The other problem I have, which is more of a personal one, is simply that I could see Kumi Koda singing any of this tracks… I do wonder if Maki is a replacement due to her falling sales – but let’s not speculate too much – you know I always get it wrong! 

But, don’t write this album off, no, not at all.  Queen Bee, the opening track, is an absolute master piece, and I’ve been deathlooping it for the past few weeks.  Equally, with… and Fly Away are great pieces of music, with… probably sticks out to me because it’s the only real “slow” track on the album and really sticks out from everything else, and Fly Away due to the vocal performance (especially during the chorus).  Plastic Lover is also another track to listen out for if you want something a bit different from Maki (and it’s a great dance track).   Although there’s a lot of generic-RnB going on here, there’s also room for some individuality from Maki – which helps with the want to get in the mainstream, but also give your own take on things.

In short, like most albums, this one works really well as a whole and plays through brilliantly.  Although a couple of tracks may find it hard to stand-alone, the good on here outweighs the bad, and hopefully, when Maki starts her solo career with Avex next year, we’ll hear a lot more of what she has to offer.

Single to listen to: Fly Away
Album track to listen to: Queen Bee