Kiyokiba Shunsuke - Tengoku wo mattekureru

Kiyokiba Shunsuke has been going from strength to strength since starting his solo career. His single Believe from the middle of 2006 was chosen to be a World Cup tie-in song and now Tengoku wo mattekureru features as title song for the film of the same name in which Kiyokiba Shunsuke stars alongside Okamoto Aya and Inohara Yoshihiko.

As a single release, it is a little sparse. This limited edition does contain a DVD clip of Kiyokiba Shunsuke performing Tengoku wo mattekureru live at Zepp Tokyo, but as for the music there is merely the single and then a karaoke version of it. However, this doesn't matter much as it is a good single.

Tengoku wo mattekureru is not a groundbreaking song in terms of style or vocals. Yet Kiyokiba Shunsuke manages to pull off this much abused 'singer-songwriter' genre with a certain style and panache that means he never sounds boring. Tengoku wo matterkureru is a song tinged with melancholy, yet has a sense of hope and warmth that also reveals a soft side to him. What would be a fairly ordinary acoustic guitars and string ballad becomes a lovely breezy track with his slightly unusual breathy vocals shining. This is a fantastic example of an often-done style done right!