SMOKY & THE SUGAR GLIDER (nickname: Smogla) is just brand new, the alternative pop-rock band started in 2017, but the band members have gained a lot of experience in making music, but also in collaborating with each other.
It was 2014 when SHOKO NAKAMURA, who worked as a bassist for various formations, and MARY, a singer-songwriter who has been professionally active in the music world since 2003, met and started sharing experiences with each other. SHOKO NAKAMURA became part of the band of MARY (Saito Mari BAND) for the live performances. ARISA was added as a keyboard player for the same band for live performances a while later. スペクトル (Spectrum) is the song, written by SHOKO NAKAMURA, which seemed to be the start of the band SMOKY & THE SUGAR GLIDER in 2017. In August of the same year the band started with live performances and in March 2018 SMOKY & THE SUGAR GLIDER released their first release, an EP. The music video of Spectrum is for the promotion of this self-titled EP.
The pure voice of MARY is loving at one moment, but knows how to use the highlights of the song Spectrum. The (power) ballad seems to be the greatest power of the singer, given her previous works. Considering Spectrum is a soothing and melodic pop song, with the chorus as an outlier, the choice to put city images in the music video in which MARY walks along the waterfront is a very good choice. It creates an atmospheric unity, where you can also immediately get to know the musical trio.
The fact that this song was written for MARY by SHOKO NAKAMURA before SMOKY & THE SUGAR GLIDER existed, makes this music video just a little more special if you are aware of this knowledge.
Rating: 75/100
