Sheena Ringo | Artist
Yumiko Shiina aka Ringo Sheena, is a Japanese singer, songwriter and musician born 1978 in Urawa, Japan. She released her first solo single when she was 19 years old, and was also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen. After quitting school to enter a musical contest, Ringo was quickly signed to EMI, then promptly left Japan to avoid the trappings of contract work. After returning, she released a series of successful singles and albums, all self-penned, which is a rarity for Japanese pop artists. After more success with the band Tokyo Jihen, Shena returned to a solo career in 2006, quickly taking the number one slot on the Oricon charts with the album Heisei Fuuzoku. Despite being involved in the main J-Pop scene, Shena has created a niche for herself based on a much wider musical range than most artists. Where most pop singers develop a sound based on contemporary pop aesthetics and throwaway lyrical matter, Shena builds on a base of jazz, rock, Motown, and even French chanson equally well, infusing her projects with a very different aesthetic, and gaining a fan base outside of the J-Pop mainstream. She describes herself as "Shinjuku-style performer". During live shows she sometimes plays the piano and occasionally plays the bass guitar. While recording, she plays piano and drums, and occasionally uses uncommon musical instruments such as a melodica and a shamisen. To-date Sheena has released Eleven studio albums including film soundtracks, standouts include Muzai moratorium (1999), Shōso strip (2000), Kalk samen kuri no hana (2003), Heisei fūzoku (2007), and Sanmon gossip (2009). She was ranked number 36 in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians compiled by HMV in 2003. as a matter of interest, Sheena was born with a congenital condition which effected her alimentary tract. Treatment of this involved operations to her upper back. These surgeries left Sheena with large scars on her shoulder blades, said to give the impression that an angel's wings had been removed.
Artist Website: kronekodow.com
Featured Albums: Sheena Ringo
Related Artists: Shiina Ringo, Tokyo Jihen
Collections: Women of Note
