Wikipedia

Draft:Snow Men

For other uses, see Snowman (disambiguation).
"Snow Men"
Song by Gen Hoshino
from the album Yellow Dancer
LanguageJapanese
ReleasedDecember 2, 2015 (2015-12-02)
Length4:34
LabelSpeedstar
Songwriter(s)Gen Hoshino
Producer(s)Gen Hoshino
Music video
"Snow Men" on YouTube

"Snow Men" (Japanese pronunciation: [sɯnoꜜːmeɴ]) is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter and musician Gen Hoshino from his fourth studio album, Yellow Dancer (2015).

Composition edit

 
"Snow Men"
A sample of "Snow Men". It is an "erotic" medium-to-fast paced song with an R&B-like sound, examplifying Yellow Dancer's African American music influences.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

4 minutes and 34 seconds long, Hoshino wrote and produced "Snow Men".[1][2] The song was written immediately after the album's third single "Sun" (2015), with Hoshino attempting to mix neo soul and J-pop genres into an image of a snowman in the summer sky.[3][4] Hoshino has described it as a love song about summer snow.[5] On Yellow Dancer's track listing, Hoshino placed "Snow Men" after the jazz-influenced single "Crazy Crazy" (2014), attempting to show contrast in their different historical eras of sound.[3]

Musically, "Snow Men" has elements of R&B and examplifies Yellow Dancer's black music inspirations.[6][7] It opens with a string arrangement and progresses with medium-to-fast pace, ending with Hoshino singing a falsetto vocal section.[8] Its lyrics references water-related themes such as harbors and surface water, connecting to Yellow Dancer's final track "Friend Ship".[3] Reggie for Real Sound  [ja] described the song as "Gen Hoshino-styled neo soul" and Fanplus Music's Tomoka Ishisumi called its melody alike album-oriented rock.[9][10] Akimasa Munakata, a different writer for Real Sound, compared its time to "Soul", a soul music-like track on Yellow Dancer.[11] Critics have attributed a feel of eroticism to "Snow Men",[12] with the staff of CDJournal calling the track a winter song with elements that feel "adult-like" and "sexy".[8] In an interview with Musica  [ja], Hoshino described "Snow Men" as a "song of sex".[3]

Promotion and release edit

 
 
"Snow Men" was used in a promotional short film by cosmetics company Maquillage, starring Hoshino (left) and Fumi Nikaido (right).

"Snow Men" was commissioned by the Japanese cosmetic company Maquillage, a subsidiary of Shiseido. The song featured in their Snow Beauty II advertising campaign, promoted via the short movie Snow Beauty released to the company's website on July 21, 2015. A love story, it stars Hoshino as a half-snowman half-human and Fumi Nikaido as a snow woman, marking their second shared appearance after Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2014).[4][13] Alongside a new visual of Hoshino, a music video to "Snow Men" was released on September 11, 2015, without plans for the song itself to receive official release.[14][15] Shot in an "adult" and "sexy" style to match the song's composition, it features Hoshino in a suit and slicked-back hair, singing next to blindfolded women in white dresses.[4][6]

Hoshino announced Yellow Dancer, his fourth studio album, on October 14, 2015, and revealed "Snow Men" as part of its track listing.[16] The full track listing unveiled on October 28 showed "Snow Men" as the album's tenth track, following "Crazy Crazy" and preceding "Down Town".[17] Yellow Dancer was released via Speedstar Records on December 2, 2015.[8] Though the song did not chart, it was received positively in album reviews.

Live performances edit

Prior to its music video and the release of Yellow Dancer, Hoshino debuted "Snow Men" during his Hitori Edge acoustic concert at the Nippon Budokan in August 2015.[5]

Personnel edit

Performance and production credits adapted from Apple Music;[2] music video credits adapted from the booklet to Music Video Tour 2010–2017.[18]

Music personnel

  • Gen Hoshino – vocals, guitar, songwriter, producer
  • Ryosuke Nagaoka – guitar
  • Wataru Iga – bass guitar
  • Hajime Kobayashi – Rhodes piano
  • Noriyasu Kawamura – drums
  • Yu Sugino – violin
  • Mio Okamura – violin
  • Shohei Yoshida – violin
  • Osamu Iyoku – violin
  • Miho Shimokawa – violin
  • Mikiyo Kikuchi – viola
  • Reiichi Tateizumi – viola
  • Shinobu Hashimoto – cello
  • Takahiro Uchida – mastering engineer

Music video staff

  • Hidenobu Tanabe – director
  • Kōji Takayama – producer
  • Yoshitaka Murakami – cameraman
  • Miyaki Shinichi – lighting
  • Mamoru Komoto – production designer
  • Takakusagi Go – make-up, hair
  • Hideo Nakakane – styling
  • Masao Sugiura – production management
  • Yūko Miya – production management
  • Erisa – cast
  • Marika Oshikata – cast
  • Kano – cast
  • Purishia – cast
  • Mariko – cast
  • Minami – cast

References edit

  1. ^ "Yellow Dancer – Album by Gen Hoshino". Apple Music US. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Snow Men – Song by Gen Hoshino (from Yellow Dancer)". Apple Music US. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Hoshino, Gen (December 2015). "2015年の圧倒的名盤『Yellow Dancer』 その全曲を語りつくす完全保存大特集!" [Yellow Dancer - Complete Special Feature Going Into Every Song on 2015's Masterpiece Album!]. Musica [ja] (Interview) (in Japanese). Vol. 104. p. 42.
  4. ^ a b c "星野源がショートムービーで"雪男と人間のハーフ"に、主題歌も提供" [Gen Hoshino Provides Theme Song and Portrays Half-Snowman Half-Human in Short Movie]. Natalie.mu (in Japanese). July 16, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "星野 源、8畳一間に13000人を招待―?「星野源のひとりエッジ in 武道館」2日目を観た" [Gen Hoshino Invites 13,000 People to One Mat in Second Day of Hitori Edge Concert at the Budokan]. Rockin'On Japan (in Japanese). November 30, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "星野源が目隠し女性と歌う、新曲PVは「とてもアダルトなビデオ」" [Gen Hoshino Sings with Blindfolded Women in New "Totally Adult" Music Video]. Cinra [ja] (in Japanese). September 11, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  7. ^ Hirama. "Yellow Dancer <通常盤>" [Yellow Dancer (Regular Edition)] (in Japanese). Tower Records Japan. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "星野 源 / Yellow Dancer" [Gen Hoshino / Yellow Dancer]. CDJournal [ja] (in Japanese). Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  9. ^ Reggie (December 2, 2015). "星野源と山口一郎 – 音楽シーンに風穴を開ける、それぞれのやり方" [How Gen Hoshino and Ichiro Yamaguchi Broke the Music Scene]. Real Sound [ja] (in Japanese). Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  10. ^ Ishisumi, Tomoka (September 2, 2015). "星野源、武道館をたった「ひとり」で演じきったステージ" [The Stage of Gen Hoshino Alone at the Budokan]. Fanplus Music (in Japanese). Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  11. ^ Munekata, Akimasa (December 14, 2015). "星野源が『Yellow Dancer』で成し遂げた快挙　チャート1位作の音楽的達成を読む" [The Achievements of Gen Hoshino on Yellow Dancer: Let's Take a Musical Look at the Number One Charting Work]. Real Sound [ja] (in Japanese). p. 2. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  12. ^ Sadahiro, Naho (June 12, 2020). "星野源『Yellow Dancer』わたしたちの想像をかるくダンスしながら飛び越えてくる大名盤" [Gen Hoshino's Yellow Dancer Is A Masterwork That Lightly Dances On and Exceeds Our Imaginations] (in Japanese). Tower Records Japan. Retrieved May 19, 2024 – via Mikiki.
  13. ^ "星野 源、書き下ろし新曲"Snow Men"が主題歌のショートムービー公開中!" [New Gen Hoshino Song "Snow Men" Unveiled in Short Movie]. Rockin'On Japan (in Japanese). July 21, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  14. ^ "星野源、アダルトな新MVでオールバックに" [Gen Hoshino Sports the Slicked-Back in New "Adult-like" Music Video]. Natalie.mu (in Japanese). September 11, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  15. ^ "星野源、資生堂マキアージュWEBムービー"Snow Beauty"書き下ろしの新曲「Snow Men」のMV & 最新アーティスト写真公開" [Gen Hoshino Releases New Visuals and Music Video to Shisedo Maquillage's Snow Beauty Theme Song "Snow Men"]. Skream! (in Japanese). September 11, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  16. ^ "星野源、2年7カ月ぶり新アルバム「Yellow Dancer」リリース決定" [Gen Hoshino to Release First Album in Two Years with Yellow Dancer]. Natalie.mu (in Japanese). October 14, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  17. ^ "星野源ニューアルバム初回盤に22曲入り「ひとりエッジ」ライブ映像集" [Gen Hoshino Will Include 22-Song "Hitori Edge" Live Footage in First Editions to New Album]. Natalie.mu (in Japanese). October 28, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  18. ^ "Music Video Tour 2010–2017: Yellow Dancer music video booklet" (PDF) (in Japanese). Speedstar Records. May 17, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2024.

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