Review Summary: Sweet and sunny summer swaying.
Describing sound by imagery isn’t quite accurate one-hundred percent of the time, but here’s a simple scene to go by: Sun beating down, umbrella overhead, sunglasses donned, and a martini in hand. On the beach, in a cabana…the location is interchangeable but picture this sedative, tropical daze when you think of a sound like Paris Match’s, because they’re simply a perfect fit.
Who is Paris Match, you ask? Simply put, they are a smooth jazz group hailing from Nagoya, Japan with an accessible pop tinge. The instrumentation is exotic and elegant, and the vocals are gentle and relaxing. They are hardly an “album” band, as all of their songs could have easily been on any other album in their discography, but concept isn’t anything to look for in their music. Their laid-back, tropical atmosphere and charisma is the greatest prize to be found here (as opposed to earth-shattering deviance or challenging avant garde-isms), and luckily, it’s very easy to engage with.
What Paris Match does best is create soothing, semi-tropical jazz tunes with an excellent eye for catchiness and melody. The music is extremely easy to listen to thanks to its breezy, carefree nature, and the way the songs stay on their silky smooth course throughout the entire album. On the other hand, there is an obvious lack of surprises that can sweep the listener off their feet, but I feel that calling the album “predictable” is a little unfair because the goal here isn’t to achieve eccentricity, in fact it’s the opposite. Plus, all the feet-sweeping is done through the graceful, addictive vocals performed by Mari Mizuno, which can often be so effective with their sedative lure that seemingly nothing else in the world matters besides the temporal paradise you’ve been drawn into. Exaggeration or not, when you let Paris Match’s sound draw you in, there’s no escaping simply because you won’t
want to.
Their biggest disadvantage, then, stems from a noticeable lack of variety. Seldom does the band take risks with their music, which is generally derived from the same instrumental palette and style. Mizuno’s vocal talent doesn’t lie in her versatility, but rather her penchant for weaving beautiful melodies, so listeners should be wary that she sounds very similar on most of the band’s albums. Instead, all the variety can be found in the melody, not the aesthetic, so tolerant listeners can find a consistently excellent discography to enjoy. As far as
Volume One is concerned, not only can a few of the group’s best songs can be found here, but you’ll get a full taste of everything, from the songs you can let simmer in the background to change moods (track 3 “風のうまれる*所で”, “After the Rain”) to the ones you’ll be more attentive to thanks to soothing, sultry vocal hooks (“Flower”, “I’m Still Lost in You”), so it doubles as a great place to start listening to the band.
While similar-sounding albums blend together into something like a giant beach house playlist,
Volume One contains a great pack of bossanova/jazz tunes from a greater library of delicate, melodic vacation music. Ultimately, my point is that it’s not just this album, but this band, that deserves attention from any martini-sipping sunbather, or just about anyone with a taste for graceful smooth jazz, because it’s simply too good to be missed.
