Draft:Snow Men

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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" directed by Hidenobu Tanabe [ja][14] was released on September 11, 2015, without plans for the song itself to receive official release.[15][16] 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.[17] The full track listing unveiled on October 28 showed "Snow Men" as the album's tenth track, following "Crazy Crazy" and preceding "Down Town".[18] Yellow Dancer was released via Speedstar Records on December 2, 2015.[8] Though the song did not chart, it received positive response 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.[14]

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. ^ a b "Music Video Tour 2010–2017: Yellow Dancer music video booklet" (PDF) (in Japanese). Speedstar Records. May 17, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2024. Snow Men - Director: 田辺秀伸
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "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.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ "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.

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