Among the various boy-girl duos on the J-pop music scene, Orange Pekoe stand out as one of the most musically interesting. The duo comprises Kobe natives Kazuma Fujimoto and Tomoko Nagashima, who like many other J-pop acts, first met as part of a "music circle," or club, while in university. They formed a band in 1998 with other students, but soon decided to work as a duo. Orange Pekoe's first release was a mini-album in April 2001, and it wasn't long before they landed a deal with BMG...

Among the various boy-girl duos on the J-pop music scene, Orange Pekoe stand out as one of the most musically interesting. The duo comprises Kobe natives Kazuma Fujimoto and Tomoko Nagashima, who like many other J-pop acts, first met as part of a "music circle," or club, while in university. They formed a band in 1998 with other students, but soon decided to work as a duo. Orange Pekoe's first release was a mini-album in April 2001, and it wasn't long before they landed a deal with BMG Funhouse. Their music is based on a light, almost effervescent pop-jazz fusion that's sophisticated without being pretentious. You could call it "designer pop" - music for people who shop at IKEA. As is usual with this kind of boy-girl duo, Fujimoto writes the music and plays most of the instruments, while Nagashima writes the lyrics. Nagashima is a confident, technically accomplished vocalist - it's obvious that she's a serious student of the great jazz and pop singers. On songs such as "Taiyo No Kakera (A Piece of the Sun)", Fujimoto and Nagashima veer close to jazz (scat singing, upright bass), but never leave their pop sensibilities too far behind.