Co-produced by Takuro Okada, Satoko Shibata’s new effort “Your Favorite Things” shows influences of hip-hop, ambient music, and new jazz.

“I felt again that I had grown up with R&B and black music since I was a teenager. I’ve been listening to Destiny’s Child since their debut. But I thought it wasn’t a style that suited me. But recently, I realized that there was no time to be ashamed of it. I started to think: Let’s write the songs I want to write, without being conscious of how I’ll be seen.”

As Satoko said in her interview with Mikiki, her new album “Your Favorite Things” seems to refer to the latest black music. But while “Shiroi Isu” (White Chair) can be played continuously with Solange or Noname, “Side Step” is not far from the latest K-pop trends, making you dance. And “Reebok”, on the other hand, was created in the theme of Neo City-Pop.

“There has been a debate about singing foreign tunes in Japanese, but I think the most important thing is the guts of the singer, like: I’m going to sing these words!”

Satoko Shibata’s new album might be an album of songs she really wanted to sing, just as they are. They could become your favorite things too.

Stream “Your Favorite Things” LP on Spotify.

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Photo credit: Yohji Uchida