Shinichi Osawa's first proper full-length under his own name is a masterful electro trip brimming with wild dance beats, loads of distorted techno and sampler sounds, and wisely chosen vocalists and co-producers. Far more bass-heavy and dancefloor-oriented than his mellower
Mondo Grosso work,
The One will thrill the cult fans who adore his contributions to the Lumines game series. Opener "Star Guitar" is an emotionally brittle cover of the
Chemical Brothers original, with pretty shoegazer voices courtesy of the
Au Revoir Simone trio layered into six minutes of propulsive, yearning electronic clatter and release. On most other albums, it would be the highlight, but all 14 tracks here (except perhaps the intermission-like "The Patch") are stunners.
Osawa displays influences from acid house to Detroit techno to
Basement Jaxx-like dance-pop to
New Order-style sequencer workouts, all the while crafting his own warped style of crispy, burnt beats and notes. "Detonator," "Dreamhunt," and "Push" are all in the
Basement Jaxx vein of confident, edgy female vocals over sexy beats, but there's some intangible quality to
Osawa's delivery that makes for less cheesiness and a greater sense of cool. Working with
Princess Superstar,
Rubies, and Ania, respectively, on those tracks, he mans the boards seemingly with ease, tweaking all the right knobs to make all three songs cohesive and suggestive, yet varied in nuance. Akihiro Namba's surprisingly touching vocals on "Our Song" recall
Gruff Rhys of
Super Furry Animals, and
Osawa and the Ultra Brain leading man work together to make the song an exuberantly jubilant dance anthem. As adept as
Osawa is behind the soundboard, he's just as good at picking collaborators. In addition to the vocalists above and Yoshito Tanaka's guitars, he gets fine production help from
Alexander Technique, Tim & Vass,
Anu Pillai, and the brothers Ryukyudisko. The Lumines crowd might especially appreciate the instrumental "Last Days" and the similarly constructed "Foals," which adds alternately pensive and mad 1980s-style vocals from Nelson (not that goofy soft metal act). These tracks feel like sister productions to
Osawa's Lumines 2 song "Stroll Around the World," an over the top electro screamfest collaboration with Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's Chiba Yusuke under the moniker Star Casino. "State of Permission," co-produced with
Anu Pillai, is perhaps the album's most traditional concoction and an organic heartbeat of a song with
Tamara Barnett-Herrin's pretty voice riding chilling basslines reminiscent of
Martin Hannett. On a handful of solo pieces,
Osawa lets out all the stops, crafting magic carpet rides of lush keyboards, semi-squelched samplers, and vintage techno effects.
The One is a varied yet cohesive masterpiece and a sensory overload of dynamics, emotion, style, and outright joy that in a perfect musical and economic climate would instantly position
Shinichi Osawa at the top of the dance and electronic genres. ~ Tim DiGravina