Anri

Overview

Anri (杏里, born Eiko Kawashima on 31 August 1961) is a Japanese singer, singer-songwriter, composer and lyricist from Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture. She writes under the name ANRI and is based in Los Angeles. Her career spans more than 40 years, and she is celebrated as the "Queen of City Pop" following the genre's international revival. Her best-known songs include "Oribia o Kikinagara", "Kanashimi ga Tomaranai", "Cat's Eye" and "Groove A-Go-Go".

Career

Early years

Anri grew up playing piano and listening to a wide range of music, from Yosui Inoue, Takuro Yoshida and Yumi Arai to Olivia Newton-John and Earth, Wind & Fire. She debuted in 1978 at age 17 on Forlife Records with "Oribia o Kikinagara" ("While Listening to Olivia"), written by Amii Ozaki. Although her singing was praised, sales stayed modest for several years while she tried styles ranging from idol-pop to European sound. Her band at the time included Takeshi Kobayashi.

Breakthrough in the 1980s

In 1982, the Kobayashi-composed Kao commercial song "Omoikiri American" and a compilation of the same name were hits, cementing her image of summer and the sea. She then released Heaven Beach, with contributions from Bread & Butter. In 1983, she entrusted then-unknown Toshiki Kadomatsu with producing five tracks on Bi・Ki・Ni, which reached No. 27 on the Oricon album chart. Her single "Cat's Eye", the first opening theme of the anime of the same name, became her first Oricon No. 1 and spent four weeks at the top; it is regarded as one of the first J-pop songs used as an anime theme. "Kanashimi ga Tomaranai" followed, and both entered the top ten. The album Timely!! (December 1983) also hit No. 1, and she made her first appearance at the 34th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen.

In 1984 she scored a hit with "Kimama ni Reflection" (Nissin U.F.O. commercial), released the Los Angeles-recorded COOOL, went independent with her own office, and held her first national tour. In 1985 she brought foreign dancers and backing vocalists into her touring show and released the synthesizer-heavy WAVE. In 1986 came MYSTIQUE, with lyricist Yumi Yoshimoto contributing many lyrics, and the London-recorded Trouble in Paradise, which featured Bill Bruford and Simon Phillips. In 1987, backed by the Hawaiian band Kalapana, she performed the first Hawaii concert by a Japanese pop act, and has since played Hawaii seven times.

Self-production and second peak

From Summer Farewells (1987) she began producing herself and eventually composed all her songs. In her 10th anniversary year, 1988, she released Boogie Woogie Mainland, the best-of My Favorite Songs and singles including "Summer Candles"; she also began writing for Seiko Matsuda, Miho Nakayama and Arisa Mizuki. "Summer Candles" and "Dolphin Ring" became standards at Japanese weddings. Her sales peak ran from Circuit of Rainbow (1989; Japan Record Award Album Award) through Neutral (1991), her only million-shipment album. She held her only national arena tour in 1990, scored a hit with "Dolphin Ring" in 1993, and topped Oricon for two weeks with the self-cover best-of 16th Summer Breeze in 1994. She recorded the official theme for the Nagano Olympics, "Share", and sang the folk song "Furusato" at the 1998 closing ceremony.

2000s and 2010s

After Forlife's decline she moved to Nippon Crown in 2000 and relocated to Los Angeles. In 2002 she began collaborating with guitarist Lee Ritenour, who produced Smooth Jam – Quiet Storm. She moved to Columbia in 2005 (Sol), Universal J in 2007, and Warner Music Japan in 2011, releasing the best-of Heart to Heart with you, which includes a Japan Airlines theme composed by David Foster. In 2013 she joined Ivy Records and released the 35th anniversary re-recording album Surf City -Coool Breeze-. In 2019 she recorded new songs in Los Angeles with the Steve Gadd Band.

2020s: Queen of City Pop

As city pop surged worldwide from the mid-2010s, and with her songs sampled by vaporwave and future funk artists, Anri was reappraised and found new fame abroad. In 2017 she performed "Cat's Eye" at the touring ice show Fantasy on Ice. In 2021 she teamed with fellow 1978 debutant Mariya Takeuchi as "Peach & Apricot" for "Watching Over You". In 2023 she was featured in CNN's New Year's Eve programming, appeared on Music Station for the first time in 25 years to mark her 45th anniversary, and several of her albums were reissued.

Musical style

Moving across city pop, J-pop and kayōkyoku, Anri is known for danceable summer songs and ballads. She frequently records abroad and has performed duets with artists such as Peabo Bryson, Philip Bailey, Johnny Gill and Michael Franks. She learned songwriting through sessions with Bread & Butter and has composed her own material since the late 1980s, embracing a global, innovative style including foreign backing dancers.