At first, I was planning on simply including Body To Body in this week’s upcoming “New & Noteworthy J-pop” post, but I know not everyone reads those and I didn’t want fans of bombastic 80’s synthwave (like myself!) to miss out on this track.
Meik debuted as a soloist in 2017 after leaving group J☆Dee’Z (now known as “Jewel”), and if you enjoy retro dance music she’s got plenty of great hits in her arsenal. Body To Body may just be the 80’s-est yet, pulsing along a pitch-perfect re-creation of dramatic synth-and-guitar pop. Even her throaty, powerful vocal matches the era well, commanding attention with its gutsy tone.
Body To Body could use a more explosive chorus, but the climactic guitar solo makes up for any restraint in the melody. It’s like they plucked guitar lines straight from Duran Duran’s greatest hits. With a sound like this, how could I not be instantly obsessed?
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
i suspect this will grow into a 9 soon, i already love it!
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You should check out her albums! They’re all very good and heavily reference 70’s/80’s dance music.
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I have a bit of a mixing issue with this song. It feels too much like it was mixed in a tin can. I have had that complain a lot recently.
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Wondering if the audio version sounds better to you?
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Sorry for the late reply, was busy, but yeah, it does sound much better. Not quite perfect, but I get its charms now!
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Yep, very 1985.
The main hook is a heavy “interpolation” from Animation’s “Obsession”, using essentially the same chords, disguised. ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIs5StN8J-0
Crossed with a female voice cover of some band like Flock of Seagulls “I Ran”. I used to have hair like that. This song was played often on radio, less so on MTV.
‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpfWORQWhU
There are also touches of 80’s style prog rock, especially the sung harmonies such as on the closing notes on the chorus with the words “something in your eyes”, eg Asia (the band called Asia) ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOMD3oloFss
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I almost spit out my food when I hit the play button on this song. Body to Body has been a solid 10 since 1983! It’s the opening track of Tomoko Aran’s 1983 album Fuyu Kukan. This is essentially a one-to-one remake of the original. I’m glad to see an artist like Meik loves this song too. Personally, I prefer the original’s mix and Tomoko’s voice. The original chorus is a little more robust with a male vocalist singing in unison with Tomoko. The album is considered a classic of 1980s synth-pop/city pop music. Give it a listen. The Weeknd song Out of Time is heavily sampled from Midnight Pretenders, which is another Tomoko Aran track off this album.
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Oh! I had no idea it was a cover!
Well, I guess that’s why it sounds so authentic 🙂
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Thank you.
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Thank you for recommending an artist like this. I’m a huge fan of the City Pop genre and many of her tracks are right up my alley.
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Are you going to review Kim Woojin’s new song “Say Something To Me”?
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Not planning on it.
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