NHK: Alan

Ashita e no Sanka roughly translates to “Song Sung for Tomorrow”... The lyrics were penned by Nojima Shinji, a famous movie and TV drama scriptwriter in Japan. The composition was the work of Kikuchi Kazuhito, who frequently works with popular artists like Ayumi Hamasaki. To top it all, alan’s Tibetan-style vocals were showcased in their full glory bringing the listener an epic and powerful title track.



One can clearly note how alan sets herself apart from the typical newcomers. Her vocals suggest years of vocal training and practice. Her low-notes are not particularly striking and are fairly soothing. However her high-notes are definitely something unique and unusual and are bound to attract attention in the future. The chorus is particularly powerful, where alan unleashes her so called “wailing” which sounds so haunting. It’s fairly impressive how alan manages to hit those high notes and hold them for so long, while managing to sound like she was in control throughout the whole track. It’s also highly suggested to watch her live performances of this track, since they manage to live up to the studio version.

The instrument choice matches her “mountain-notes”, which are reminiscent of her Tibetan roots and the traditional Chinese folk mountain songs. I was particularly attracted to the traditional arrangement, which takes influence from contemporary enka and Tibetan music. The instrumentals are fairly mellow, as if they are only there to assist alan’s powerful vocals. In fact, at certain instances one can almost feel that alan is drowning out the background music with her high notes. The instrumental choice contains some percussion and string elements, bringing forward a cold and desolate atmosphere, fitting for the winter season.

From Alan's debut at Channel-Ai, where I learnt that Alan Dawazhuoma was born in 1987 and grew up in the Meiren valley in the Rongxar county of the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in China. Ethnically speaking, alan is of Tibetan descent. Her mother actually was a singer in the past, while her father is a civil servant. alan was always oriented towards music.