Kahimi Karie - My First Karie

My First Karie is the 1995 mini-album that marked Kahimi Karie's major-label debut and helped establish the distinctive sound that would make her one of the defining voices of Japan's Shibuya-kei era. Originally released by Trattoria, the record brings her whisper-soft vocal style together with French pop, indie pop and highly detailed studio production.

Kahimi Karie wrote much of the lyrical material herself, while Keigo Oyamada, Katerine, Tomoki Kanda, Gregori Czerkinsky and Bertrand Burgalat contributed music and arrangements. The result is a compact six-track set with a cosmopolitan character that stood apart from mainstream Japanese pop at the time.

Elastic Girl and Zoom Up! are among the defining songs from this period, with Zoom Up! gaining wider attention through its use in a camera commercial. French-language lyrics, understated electronic textures and delicate melodies helped establish Karie's unmistakable aesthetic.

This Japanese pressing presents the mini-album on black vinyl at 33 1/3 RPM in a single-pocket jacket with a lyric sheet.