Arashiro Beni’s eighth single, Luna, was released on February 28, 2007, and only reached #77 on the Oricon chart so far. She is half-Japanese, having an American father, and can speak English and Japanese fluently. Beni is also part of Bishoujo Club 21, a Morning Musume look-alike group, and one of two soloists from the group. She really isn’t that popular in the music scene, partly because she hasn’t had one single to really break her through. Luna is a decent listen, but she still needs something more spectacular. I wonder what the future will hold for Beni?

My Subjective Score: 7/10


1. Luna
Her voice doesn’t sound perfect, but then it definitely doesn’t seem like it was touched up in a studio. The song doesn’t stand out to me as being all that creative; however, it still sounds quite pretty. Luna is a ballad with a heavy r&b influence that could grow on you after a few listens. This is the theme song for the J-drama Warui Yatsura.

2. NO PAIN,NO GAIN
Beni has some attitude on this song! I like the music a lot, so I do like this much better than Luna, yet I don’t feel it fits with her. It has a rock-pop sound to it. I’m not sure if the chorus hooks me all together; she needs to work on making something a little more catchy.

3. DIGGIN’ON YOU
This is a cover of TLC’s Diggin’ on You from the 90’s. (On a side note, the first CD I ever bought was TCL’s CrazySexyCool, which is where this song is from.) Beni suprisingly does the song some justice. I think she was helped by the fun beat that was already there to give her some energy, but she pulls it off.

 
Track 1: Luna