Angel Touch
Cindy
genre: pop/ city pop • release date: 1990
If City Pop was a movie, I would choose this album as the ending credits song that leads into the after credits sneak peak. I wasn’t really familiar with Cindy’s game before giving Angel Touch a shot. I never took the time to stop and give her a proper listen until recently. And what I found was an album that stepped out of the big category of city pop and explored the sounds of R&B, Soul, and New Jack Swing. With these new garnered sounds, Angel Touch ‘touches’ on romance in way that is too uncommon today reminding us to believe in destiny, make your dreams come true, and to hold onto hope throughout the bad times.
Angel Touch has a nice blend of dancing and grooving tracks. It starts out nice and easy and the album as whole has a pace that speeds up and slows down in all the right areas. I didn’t feel any exhaustion halfway through and a lot of other artists can learn a bit more from that. The beginning tracks are upbeat and just really happy. “Setsuna-kute (せつなくて)” encapsulates those words specifically for me. A funky synth bass to guide us all the way through while Cindy tells us how much in love she is. It’s also home to a killer bluesy piano solo. A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. It really seems like everyone had fun in creating this one. The band is in the pocket, Cindy is killing it on the vocals. Everyone is just having a good time.
“Watashitachi o Shinjite Ite” is the track the I had first heard from Cindy many years ago. And it makes sense on why it’s her most streamed song. Its enchanting melody from Cindy along with its well orchestrated ensemble of keys, guitar, and synths keep you captivated all the way through. A song about hope in a relationship and keeping it alive through out all the good and bad. It has all the ingredients for an early 90’s summertime banger. To contrast its vibes, I’d like to introduce you to Special Ever Happened. A romantic slow jam made for just you and that special someone. Easy grooves with a serenading saxophone that breaks away from the dance that is being had in most of the album.
Now, “When Tomorrow Comes”, is an absolute slept on banger on this album. An all a cappella track featuring purely Cindy. With not just her vocals, but her words too. This one was from the soul. It serves as an audio pallet cleanser and gives you the reset you need for the remainder of the album. I really wish the world was more aware of this song. It’s the most grounded of them all. Everything else on the album is more of a dream or a fantasy. But “When Tomorrow Comes” is hope. A hope that this single interaction isn’t end and that there is a future for these two. There’s a realness in it that we all can relate to. It also puts Cindy’s talent as a singer on the front lines. Her ability to control her voice is so prominent here and her clarity is clearer than an undiscovered mountain springs water. Her voice control on this track is something highly worth mentioning too. A soft whisper while holding these higher notes and keeping that smooth saxophone like vibrato is no easy feat. Unless, of course, you are Cindy.
It was so nice, that they put it on the album twice. There is also a reprise version on there. A very short track just shy of a minute, it serves its purpose of reinserting the theme of its origin: hope for the future between two people. I would’ve liked to seen more from the reprise. It’s too short and doesn’t add anything more than its otherwise already established theme. I was hoping to see more with this one. Like hearing her ad-libbing a bit more or add a change in the progression or something to make it stand out a bit more to its origin. In the end, I would’ve removed it from the album, but I understand the necessity to repeat and instill one’s motif.
Overall, Angel Touch is a fantastic album that really captures the spirit of love, hope, and destiny. It still has that spiritual fantasy while being able to keep us grounded throughout its playtime. What I really appreciate about it , is that its light and positivity message is consistent all the way through. Nowadays, an album like this would’ve had at least two or three breakup songs. But Angel Touch holds on to the hope that even through all the bad times that there are good times to be had. The message is just gushy and lovey dovey and there isn’t enough of that in the world.
written by
Chance Aguilar
- highlights -
Surprise
When Tomorrow Comes
Special Ever Happened
Watashitachi o Shinjite Ite 「私達を信じていて」
track list:
Surprise
Setsunakute 「せつなくて」
Destiny
When Tomorrow Comes
Tenshi no Kimochi 「天使の気持ち」
Special Ever Happened
Watashitachi o Shinjite Ite 「私達を信じていて」
Candle Light
Fall In Love
When Tomorrow Comes (Reprise)
Must Be Lucky ~Ai no Kuni e~ 「Must Be Lucky ～愛の国へ～」
