#12 smart

“Give Me Love”

Release date: Oct. 12, 2011

Featured in: 12, Smart

Members: Ai Takahashi, Aika Mitsui, Erina Ikuta, Kanon Suzuki, Mizuki Fukumura, Reina Tanaka, Riho Sayashi, Risa Niigaki, Sayumi Michishige

Morning Musume must have known change was on the way by the time they released 12, Smart in 2012. It’s unlikely that they knew just how much, that an entire new era would begin from their next record, 13 Colorful Character, but the departure of Ai Takahashi after a decade with the group had to have signaled an end of a certain time. “Give Me Love,” then, sets a bittersweet atmosphere in retrospect as it opens Takahashi’s last album as a Morning Musume, carrying the same defining sound of the previous Platinum era she helped usher in.

While the lead single “Only You” hinted at the switch into EDM to come, “Give Me Love” indulges in the dramatic string sweeps and synths hits found from the group’s singles during the late ‘00s like “Shoganai Yume Oibito.” Adding on to the melodrama are the pack of back vocals which respond to the main singer singing about her woes, sometimes finishing the sentences of the latter. The call-and-response plays out well live as her group mates follow her around as she pensively strolls around.

Despite the over-the-top flourishes, the monologue unfolding in “Give Me Love” is rather level-headed at least in comparison to how the train of thought in previous releases like “Naichaukamo” can go. The idols second-guess themselves upon the gestures of an almost-too-perfect man: “hey, the future / how will it be? / falling in love / with a person like this / I thought it would be way later,” they confess in a later chorus. The music adds the gravity of the stakes if they potentially mess this up, and their worry intensifies as they restlessly ponder upon behaviors to the point of overkill: “Do you love me? / You keep asking so I become unsure,” they sing. Yet, the lack of overwrought gestures to test out their love makes “Give Me Love” a more reasoned pep talk.

Knowing now of the transformation they will take, slotting “Only You” right after “Give Me Love” in 12, Smart offers a contrast to what differentiates the Platinum from the Colorful era. There are the voices, sure, as well as the tone and production choices, but “Give Me Love” is also more self-indulgent with the focus narrowly put on the individual. The personal is still given shine in later works, but it’s projected a lot more outward hence making it easier to expand to fit and speak for a more general audience. I think of the “dear my lovely you / here’s a yell for you” hook in “Only You” that can be claimed by anybody as if they were words addressed to them whereas “Give Me Love” sympathizes with people with a more specific back history.

“This love / that I dreamed about / I’m scared about / losing it,” sings the just-joined Riho Sayashi with the help of her group to finish her lyrics. Her parts hit poignant watching the live performances with her following Reina Tanaka and a follow-up from Risa Niigaki, who both occupied the senior class at the time. The sound and narrative of “Give Me Love” makes the song emblematic of a generation at its last days, but it also already gave a chance to the young voices that would define what would come after.

“Maji Desuka Suka”

Release date: April 6, 2011

Oricon Weekly placement: 5th

B-side: “Motto Aishite Hoshiino”

Members: Ai Takahashi, Aika Mitsui, Erina Ikuta, Kanon Suzuki, Mizuki Fukumura, Reina Tanaka, Riho Sayashi, Risa Niigaki, Sayumi Michishige

I previously pointed out echoes of an earlier period of Morning Musume, specifically when I discussed how some of the Sexy 8 Beat singles saw a return to classic disco. Those callbacks in those releases, though, were relatively surface. Morning Musume never truly abandoned disco, even if the production toys with different sounds, and the dance-pop genre still strongly informs the foundation of the group’s music in the post-EDM era.

“Maji Desuka Suka,” meanwhile, taps into the past in a deeper way than simply re-using recognizable sounds. The make-up of the single certainly has a precedent from the group’s catalog. Morning Musume played with ska for “Koko Ni Iruze!” back in 2002, but this time, the stylistic reference is made much more obvious -- Maji Desuka Ska, get it? The production goes for a much more cheesy direction with bleep-bloop synths accenting the brass and guitars alongside some random turntable scratches -- a nostalgic trope that further calls back Dance Man-arranged singles from more than a decade ago.

The idols respond to the energetic production with bubbliness to match. Some of the recent releases such as “Kimagure Princess” and “Onna To Otoko No Lullaby Game” played with theatricality, but they haven’t touched on an overtly cutesy performance like the one in “Maji Desuka Suka” since that same era as “Koko Ni Iruze!” For a decade and change, the group has been focusing instead on polishing both their personality and performance into something edgy and stoic.

“Junior-high kids suddenly came into the group, and I felt, ‘wow, are they really going to make the new members sing this type of song,’” Sayumi Michishige recollected the first time she received “Maji Desuka Suka” after a series of dramatic dance-pop exploring serious sides of love affairs. “But I thought it was fun. The Morning Musume I grew up with was ‘Love Machine’ and ‘Koi No Dance Site,’ so I thought this feeling of Morning Musume has come back again.”

There arguably was not a more perfect time to pivot all the way back to the low-stakes, dumb-fun joys of the group’s golden era than “Maji Desuka Suka.” Morning Musume briefly went about as a five-piece due to the graduation of Eri Kamei, Junjun and Linlin after “Onna To Okoto No Lullaby Game.” “Maji Desuka Suka” welcomed the ninth generation, balancing the line-up basically 50-50 between the veterans and the four new teens, and the single brings out a fresh energy that the young members can only naturally bring.

Tsunku goes all out in his absurdist lyrical tendencies to further encourage fun and playfulness. Some bits of it feel familiar and even nostalgic. Lines that put life and the entire universe in panoramic view -- “Oh, this galaxy/ has too much nuisance/ avoid it well/ and let’s fulfill our dreams” -- sharing space with random throwaways -- “which cake should I buy tonight?” -- is definitely a product of Tsunku. The overall determination to be 110% positive can also only come from the songwriter.

“The ninth-generation members brought this freshness that the older, twentysomething members couldn’t bring, so it became fun to try and follow it,” Michishige shared. “Morning Musume also became brighter, within our group, the music and the atmosphere.”

“Kono Chikyuu No Heiwa Wo Honto Ni Negatterundayo!”

Release date: Sept. 14, 2011

Oricon Weekly placement: 2nd

B-sides: “Kare To Issho Ni Omise Ga Shitai!”; “Jishin Motte Yume Motte Tabitasukara”

Members: Ai Takahashi, Aika Mitsui, Erina Ikuta, Kanon Suzuki, Mizuki Fukumura, Reina Tanaka, Riho Sayashi, Risa Niigaki, Sayumi Michishige

“Kono Chikyuu No Heiwa Wo Honto Ni Negatterundayo” yet again shook up the direction of Morning Musume, who started to slowly break away from their trend of serious and emotionally stoic R&B singles. “Tsunku-san is amazing when it comes to that, betraying expectations,” Ai Takahashi said about when she first heard “Kono Chikyuu.” “I thought for sure I was graduating to another cool song, but then he handed us a song with a strong message.”

“Maji Desuka Suka” from two singles before felt like an outlier during the time of release, but now it works here as a precursor with “Kono Chikyuu” also exploring the nostalgia for the group’s golden age. That ridiculous title alone, which roughly translates to I’m Seriously Hoping for World Peace, can only fly for a single by Morning Musume. Promoting love and peace have become their campaign of sorts since at least 2002 with a song called, well, “The Peace!” And “Kono Chikyuu” taps into the glamorous funk sounds prevalent during those days when the group first spread optimism for the well-being of everyone on Earth.

“Kono Chikyuu” lyrically echoes “The Peace” as well with seemingly mundane details sharing equal space with declarations of embracing a brighter future. “I want to eat a little more/ But it would be embarrassing in front of my boyfriend.” Asides like that sound initially like non-sequiturs as they pop up, but as they exist in close proximity with outsized statements, they feel like tiny precious moments that adds up to a beautiful whole, no matter how trivial. Sure, it can be a stretch, but that line about eating in front of her boyfriend in particular taps into the song’s overall sentiment about living with no regrets.

“Honestly, I did have thoughts of, ‘oh, so I’m not graduating with a cool song,’” Takahashi said. “But as I learned the choreography, the more I got familiar singing the song, and the more I interacted with it,  I really liked it.” It’s a familiar phenomenon for me, too, to gain another level of appreciation for a message-centric Morning Musume song once I start to internalize its lyrics.

“Kono Chikyuu” has one heartfelt chorus: “So go, don’t give away your future/ the power of love, a shout of love/ That’s right, not because someone told you to/ not because everyone is doing it/ A lively future that this hand will grasp.” Spreading world peace is actually a secondary concern, and the development from within is Morning Musume’s first priority. Just imagine taking those lyrics to heart when you’re someone like Takahashi, who would graduate from the group after this single. A support for a future path hits more personal -- Tsunku might as well be directly talking to her -- and if you need a little push, “Kono Chikyuu” should speak to you warmly too.

12, Smart

We finished covering the three singles from 12, Smart! Just from those songs alone, the album feels like a cut-off point in the group’s history with it being bookended by the introduction of the ninth generation in the beginning and the graduation of longtime leader Ai Takahashi in the end. Here are the three we covered these past couple of weeks:

“Maji Desuka Suka” [6]

“Only You” [7]

“Only You”

Release date: June 15, 2011

Oricon Weekly placement: 4th

B-side: “Yameteyo! Sinbad”

Members: Ai Takahashi, Aika Mitsui, Erina Ikuta, Kanon Suzuki, Mizuki Fukumura, Reina Tanaka, Riho Sayashi, Risa Niigaki, Sayumi Michishige

“Only You” is one intriguing single from the vantage point of 2019 when staccato cadences, that bumpy delivery of syllables, are the norm, if not a cliche with pop vocals. While it’s a lot more prevalent in records by non-idol acts, some groups have been loosely experimenting with the trope these days, one notable recent example being Last Idol with “Ai Shika Buki Ga Nai.”  Morning Musume’s take meanwhile predates it hitting mainstream by a couple years, before Migos introduced their approach specific to Southern trap-rap into pop music at large.

Electronic sounds whir and whoosh in the intro as if to preview the rigid, machine-led approach to rhythm. The group interacts with the sound accordingly, snapping into robotic forms in the choreography. And yet, “Only You” starts by laying out a more familiar pop foundation built with shining synth embellishments and a flamboyant guitar lick only for Morning Musume to quickly abandon it for a new ground.

That triple-time vocal delivery shakes up not only the structure of the song but also its message. Every syllable lands punchy and precisely in its pocket, giving the lyrics a sharp and tough physicality, and the result adds an intensity to the determination expressed in the lyrics to the point it borders on obsession. The lyrical energy combined with the dynamic rhythmic flow makes the romance of “Only You” feel like a heated chase to win the attention of the one who the idols adore.

All of the forces involved feel even more powerful when you take into account that the romance behind “Only You” is a one-way street. While the idols pine for the other person, clueless of their feelings as the subject of any other Morning Musume song, to look their direction, they make the other sound magnetic as though they are the center of gravity. “It doesn’t matter who/ they start to like you a lot more and more/ that’s the reality,” they sing. “Your appeal/ that’s the appeal/ a little bit/ sometimes I get jealous.”

That said, “Only You” exudes adoration and even admiration more than defeat or desperation. The idols sigh as if they realize they are ultimately out of their league, but Morning Musume dedicate the song’s chorus to show support for the other’s endeavors: “Dear the one I love/ An infinite yell for you/ This love might be young/ But this feeling is set/ I will protect you,” they cheer from the distance. They also feel a change in their inner personality as well as the world around them as their emotions grow. “Please change this star into a spectacular one,” the group pleads for the world as they fall more and more into love. If only the other person knew just how much influence they have over them.