Chris - Lennon 6 June 2007
For almost fifteen years I have heard that Japan has more musicians and bands than any other country in the world except the USA. I honestly don’t know if that is true, but the amount of interactions I see behind-the-scenes between Japanese and American record labels and production studios makes me inclined to believe it. This album is an example of such interactions. Since the turn of the millennium Chris worked as a songwriter and sound engineer for Japanese bands like Def Tech and American musicians like Alicia Keys. However, he spent the majority of his time in Japan working for avex trax.In 2007 Chris decided to create an original album of his own, Lennon. Musically it reminds me a lot of DJ Deckstream’s contemporary releases. Lyrically the album is a mixed bag of standard R&B fare, but presented in an impressive bilingual way, featuring contributions from both Western and Japanese artists throughout.Lennon is a bit strange simply for being a Japanese album from an American R&B musician. But personally I think it is a successfully entertaining fusion of two cultures.Enjoy as always!