“It’s really fulfilling to tackle a truly classic song with a beautiful melody; just to merely touch a song like that feels wonderful,” says Shiho Ochi, better known to her legion of fans as J-pop soul diva Superfly, as we chat in her record company’s Tokyo office.
Released this week, her 10th single, “Wildflower,” comes backed with a 15-track covers CD, compiling her versions of time-honored soul and rock ‘n’ roll songs that were included as B-sides on previous singles (usually as the third track) or recorded live. Because of the inclusion of this second disc, the single will be counted by Japanese chart compiler Oricon as an album, and is almost guaranteed to follow her self-titled 2008 debut and 2009’s “Box Emotions” to the No. 1 spot.
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