Suiyoubi no Campanella (or Wednesday’s Little Bell) are a three-piece act out of Shibuya, Japan, but their live performances and music videos would have you believe they’re just a single person. The face of the group and sole performer is Koumai, who effortlessly commands large audiences with her sense of humour and stage presence. Behind the scenes, all of the group’s music is composed by Kenmochi Hidefumi, while Dir.F, the third member of the group, has more of a floating role. He’s often called the handyman of the group, and is responsible for directing some of their music videos.
I couldn’t decide which of their most recent videos to post here, so I’ve settled on two of my favourites, which I think will show why so many people have a difficult time describing exactly what kind of music they make. If it weren’t for Koumai’s unique and recognizable vocal style, you’d probably never guess these songs were from the same group.
The first video is Little Match Girl, which if I had to pick a genre to call it, I’d call smooth adult contemporary, but that’s more of a guess than anything else. Between the smooth sax, floaty piano, and electronic drums, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what you’re hearing. It even has a hint of Björk at times, which only makes things even more confusing. Whatever it is, it scratches me right where I itch.
The second video is Diablo, and I’m not even going to try to figure out what to call it. You’ll hear elements of hip-hop, trance, house, pop and I don’t know what else. This may seem like a mishmash of randomly thrown together noise, but it still manages to have a good flow to it. This video is also very different from the previous one, and Koumai’s sense of humour and signature mumbly rapping style are much more prevalent here. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it’s weird. But if weird’s your thing, then this should be right up your alley.
And just because, here’s a bonus video for their song Napoleon. There’s no point in talking about them anymore, just watch.
