Romances sans paroles

This is a partial soundtrack to the documentary film "Romances sans paroles," which is about a year in the life of Shoko Suzuki. The CD is split between several new songs and live versions of older tunes. The new songs are led by the single "I'll Get What I Want," which is a gorgeous pop song led by Shoko's piano and a simple drum machine. The other new songs ("Do You Still Remember Me?", "Mugonka") aren't quite up to the same level, but are still very good nonetheless.

Of the live tracks, my favorite is Shoko's new take on "Kaze ni Orenai Hana," which features (seemingly) new English lyrics in parts, with minimal piano accompaniment. There are also a few instrumentals which feature Shoko on piano; these were recorded on a portable cassette recorder, so the sound quality isn't super sharp -- but the recordings are still nice to listen to regardless.

I wouldn't recommend this album over Shoko's more conventional albums, but it still offers a very rewarding listening experience.