Ongaku Cafe (2010-2019): Sumioka Rina – Sumioka Rina 2012-2019 (2019)

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1. feel you
2. Heartbeat
3. プレゼント
4. Hello Yellow！
5. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
6. 君は五番目の季節
7.Daughter
8.Charming bird
9.言葉にしたいんだ Piano Version
10.あまのがわ
11.やさしくなれたら
12.fun × fun
13.ナガレボシ Acoustic Version

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Sumioka Rina is best known for her being on the show “TERRACE HOUSE: BOYS X GIRLS NEXT DOOR” (the first edition of the popular reality TV series which aired in 2013) and a singer/songwriter pursuing her dreams as a music artist.

Sumioka has been performing since 2009, playing guitar, singing songs in Sapporo, Hokkaido.  After graduating from college, Sumioka decided to head to Tokyo and she made her debut in June 2012.

But this summer Sumioka made the announcement that as she will turn 30 in February 2020, she will be suspending music activity to pursue a new dream which she wants to learn and challenge herself for the future.

In her twenties, Sumioka had felt that she has always received the help of many people.  But this time, she feels this time she wants to walk on her own two feet.

So, in June 2019, Sumioka is releasing “Sumioka Rina 2012-2019), a final album before her suspension featuring music from her seven years as a music artist.

Sumioka will continue to sing and will continue to play guitar because she doesn’t want her skills to fade and wants to start trying something different, such as skydiving or even playing a game like “Resident Evil” to overcome her weaknesses.

With the new album it features songs released from 2012-2019 including two new songs.

The album comes with a booklet with lyrics and photos of Rina.

The first track on the album is her first major single debut song “feel you” and definitely showcased Sumioka’s style of music.  Some may find similarities of her music to YUI but I absolutely love this song!

The song was used in the animated film “Rurouni Kenshin ~ Meiji Kenkaku Roman-” and for Sumioka, it was a song that she was happy to be used in a “Rurouni Kenshin” animated film because she was a big fan of JUDY AND MARY’s “Sobakasu”. According to Sumioka, she remembers hearing the news when she was at driving school during break and receiving the call.

The second track “Heartbeat” is from Sumioka’s third full length album “Kokoro ga Kimi wo Utatteru” and is a bit different from previous tracks as this song focuses primarily on vocals and less on the guitar playing. It’s a pop song which is a good song but a different style.

The song was composed via DTM on her PC and so it’s not an easy song for her to play on guitar. Arrangement was done by Fujifabric’s Kanazawa Daisuke.

The third track is “Presents” is from Sumioka’s second mini-album “colors” and conceived as thinking who meeting people is a gift and wanted to create a song showing how grateful and how blessed she was to meet many people as a music artist. A positive song!

The fourth track “Hello Yellow!” and is Sumioka’s third single and written by Takahashi Kumiko and wanted to create a energetic song and it’s a pretty cool and happy song.

The fifth track is Sumioka’s cover of Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” which she would often sing on “TERRACE HOUSE: BOYS X GIRLS NEXT DOOR”.

Despite being concerned because of her English pronunciation but because people discovered her from this song, she wanted it to be included on this album (the song was never included in an album, but was included on the DVD of the limited edition of her debut album “Tsumugiuta”).

The sixth track is “Kimi wa gobanme no Kisetsu” (You are in the fifth season), a cover of Moriyama Naotaro’s hit song and was featured on her cover side on her mini-album “Colors”.

The song was written by Moriyama for a friend that passed away and because of how beautiful this song is, she wanted to include a cover of this song.

The seventh track is “Daughter” from her second mini album “Colors”. The song was written after Sumioka’s father visited her house in Tokyo from Hokkaido. And because she participated in her first Tokyo Marathon, she came to Tokyo with her father and during that time, they shared father/daughter bonding time.

Sumioka wrote this song from the perspective of “how do parents see their child” and “How does one see their child when becoming a parent?” and it’s a special song that she included for her parents.

The eighth track is a brand new song which Sumioka created for this album. It’s a short English song and pure Sumioka, guitar and vocals.

The ninth track “Kotoba ni Shitainda – Piano Version” is the track that Sumioka is best known for and it’s her goodbye song to her housemates which she sung to let them know she was graduating from “TERRACE HOUSE: BOYS X GIRLS NEXT DOOR”. The song is the piano version.

This is a memorable scene from the show because her housemates knew from the lyrics what was about to happen and they all started tearing.

She wrote this song with the view of everyone in the house and the photo frame displayed in the room.

The tenth track is “Amanogawa” which was the theme song for the film of the same title. A 2018 film which she appeared in and is another beautiful song on the album.

The eleventh track is “Yasushiku naretara” (if you can be gentle). The song was written as a CM song and an inspirational song to show support for a friend.

The 12th track is “fun x fun”, a new song made for the album and a song about to feel joy from someone else’s joy which is a form of happiness. A positive and happy song!

And the final 13th track is “Nagareboshi – Acoustic Version” which is Sumioka’s first and only indie single released back in 2009, three years before she made her major label debut. But this is the version that she wanted to record it with her and her guitar, solo without the band arrangement.

The song was included as as a double single with “Hello Yellow!” back in 2013.

It’s a song that you will see people playing and singing, especially in street performers in Japan and also see covers on YouTube.

Overall, I will miss Sumioka Rina’s music.  I absolutely love artists who can perform solo with a guitar and just electrify a crowd and also, her music is positive and energetic.

It’s important to note that “Sumioka Rina 2012-2019” is a best album, not a singles collection album, so you’re not going to find “Hare no Hi”, “flavor”, “My Friend/Bokura no ayumu michi” and “Large & Small GIFT”, but the songs that are included on “Sumioka Rina 2012-2019” are meaningful songs that are important in her life and enjoyed by many.  And I really enjoyed this album a lot!

I wish Rina the best in which new direction that she goes with her career, but I will definitely look forward to the time she releases music again or performs live again.

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