Cocco is an awe inspiring singer who truly is an artist in every sense of the word. From the name (which I had initially confused with CoCo, an all-girl pop idol group) I thought she might be a cutsey idol girl, but she's quite the opposite. In fact she's quickly becoming one of my favorite female artists of all time. Her music is excellent with grungy guitars and strong vocals. The composition of her music is nothing short of brilliant which range from soulful folk music to wailing hard rock to miscelaneous experimental stylings with cool distortion techniques. Her songs are very emotional and go miles beyond the usual pop songs about relationships. They deal more with a wider view of the human condition extruding powerful feelings of sadness, hate, dispair and melancholy as well as songs of bittersweet hope and twisted love. For Cocco music is not a passtime or even a source of income but rather a form of emotional release. Cocco throws herself into the composition and performance of her music 100%. So much so that it's almost embarrasing to watch her rage spastically and expose her soul so nakedly on stage. Live performances are grueling for Cocco, both physically and emotionally, causing her to become totally drained for a few days afterwards. But as she says, it purifies her of pain and anger causing her to become a kinder, more easy-going person. It is because she learned to embrace everything about herself, even the dark parts of the soul that she is able to perform like so. Such a genuine approach to songwriting and singing makes her songs all the more intense.

Cocco has had her music released in San Francisco Bay area and has played the South by South West music festival both in 1997 and 1998. Many Americans who've witnessed her have compared her to Alanis Morissette (who comes from my hometown BTW). Although I'm not a fan of Alanis' music I do see where these people who compare them get this idea from. Both artists have a folk-grunge style of music that is sometimes very hard and edgy, other times quite uplifting and poetic. I can hear the similarity in Cocco's first album Bougainvillea, especially with songs like Sing A Song~No Music, No Life which have her singing in a way that is reminiscent of Alanis. But by the time of Cocco's second album Kimuiuta, the similarity in musical style ends. But it's not really their music style as much as their persona that people seem to loop together most of all. Both artists are known for bearing their souls in their songs, putting the pain and joys that they have experienced in life to music as a sort of cathartic exercise. They also have a public image of being down to earth and natural rejecting the idea that rock is supposed to be glamourous. I hope I won't get too many Alanis fans mad at me for saying this, but this deep philosophical persona often feels phoney like she's putting on an act. But with Cocco it's truly the real deal.

Cocco doesn't think of herself as a singer but rather as a person who happens to sing among other things she likes to do. Cocco is many things and it's just out of convenience that she currently sings for a living. To my chagrin, I don't know a lot of background information about Cocco herself. But she puts so much of herself into her music from her deepest insecurities to her greatest dreams. From listening to her music I feel as if I already know her intimately.

Notes

- Cocco was born and raised in Okinawa and has a great love for the natural beauty and unique culture of the islands. There she lived until 3 years ago when she came to Tokyo. She loved life in Okinawa, almost too much. To the point where it causes a blinding complacency. That was pretty much her reason for getting out of there according to Cocco.