U - U

Known for his acting skills in the television drama world, fans were thrilled when Shirota Yu debuted his music career this past month with the self-titled single U in three versions.

The single starts out with the song Sisyphus. For fans who saw the music video of this song prior to its debut, the video blends well with the covers of the single showing the story of the landscape and setting the perfect stage for U’s single. A slower song for the single, U belts out the lyrics in a jazzy R&B fashion throughout the song, entwining English and Japanese into the stanzas. The rhythm is a foot-tapping beat which is full of emotion; by the chorus, with the mixture of the castanets, the song will have any listener moving.

U, the name under which Shirota has debuted, is also the title of the second song. This song is much more pop oriented, with U starting out in English before the lyrics switch back into Japanese, accented by bells and a flurry of wind chimes. While this song uses traditional instruments, it uses both maracas and the bells to keep the sound light. U’s voice is a bit higher in this song, especially during the chorus. However, the melody is charming and is sure to sweep you off your feet!

Heart of Glass has a very jazz feel to it, and is the most dance oriented of the entire single. Despite not being a leading track, it is one of the strongest off the single because of its catchy melody. U again swaps between English and Japanese in this song. The song is designed to get the listener moving and it really bursts in energy during its chorus. The music video for Heart of Glass also accents the song by really showing its light-hearted feel with U featured in a variety of bright, happy colors.

The next song, Cuando se ama is actually a cover of a song by Italian singer Laura Pausini'. The lyrics are entirely in Spanish (and were likewise sung that way by Pausini). The song is the slowest off the single but shows a new side to U, a romantic side which really comes out through how he sings the lyrics. The song does a lot for the single – not only has U opened his single to multiple audiences worldwide, he has shown he’s not afraid to experiment and show off his roots, being a trilingual talent.

The single additionally features karaoke versions of Sisyphus, U and Heart of Glass, and listeners are able to truly take in the features of the compositions as well as sing along if they choose to.

For a debut single, U has shown tremendous promise. Fans should keep an eye on him, as he is sure to produce much more quality music in the future.