Haruka was melody.’s 11th single. It was released on February 13, 2008 and reached number 10 on the charts with 13,554 copies sold. In all this single has sold over 38,636+ copies, which is more than her newest album sadly. The title track, Haruka, was used as the theme song for the TBS drama Daisuki!! The third trach That’s The Way It Is was originally supposed to be on TRIBUTE TO CELINE DION, but was removed for some unknown reason. This was also the first and the last single in the Lei Aloha Era.

Tracks:
1. Haruka
2. Plumeria
3. That’s The Way It Is
4. Haruka (Instrumental)

Review:
Haruka, lit. Distant Flower, the emotional ballad. Now some of you might now this, but melody. originally lived in Hawaii before moving to Japan; this song reflects who she was before that along with the people and things she can’t live without, so therefore you know it’s going to be deep. A beautiful acoustic guitar, accompanied by the piano opens up this song, later the guitar gets stronger. Then melody. comes in and starts singing in some great, and emotionally driven vocals, even in the verses. The chorus then comes, here her vocals sound monotone just a tad, but they still sound so beautiful and so full of emotion. The guitar plays a key roll during the chorus, along with the violins. Now even though the chorus isn’t that catchy, it’s still fantastic. The song then continues on from verse to chorus. The ending of this song, is all right, but there is a better one out there. Anyway, the acoustic guitar plays slowly along with the violins until the music fades away. I haven’t heard this song until now, so it’s fairly new to me, but I must admit that it’s pretty good.

Plumeria, acoustic happiness. In case you were wondering, a plumeria is a flower indigenous to Hawaii. The music is quite refreshing, and very island oriented, well acoustic really, but it has that island feel. The beautiful sound of an acoustic guitar along with melody. ad-libbing begins the song, followed by some background vocals. Then melody. begins to sing in some great vocals, English and Japanese, and I especially love the beats playing while she sings, and the violins too. Then the chorus makes its debut and surprisingly it’s very happy, and up-beat. It doesn’t sound sad, the vocals are great, English and Japanese, and it’s even catchy. It must be those great vocals, and acoustic guitar. The song ends with the final chorus, followed by some strings in the background, then some more ad-libbing. Not a bad B-Side.

That’s The Way It Is, a cover from the Canadian Superstar. This song is a cover song of the original version sung by the world famous Celine Dion, and if you don’t know who she is you need to watch Titanic, or listen to some older music, no offense to anyone. And I’m sure as many of you know, this song is sung entirely in English. This song begins with a rendition of the violins playing ever so beautifully, followed by a few more instrumentals before the song gets the great melody. Then melody. begins to sing in English, a great change, but I do wish that it was a bit better, well the vocals I guess. The verses here sound so beautiful and so nostalgic, it’s almost perfection. But when she begins to sing that infamous chorus, her vocals sound so magical, and her English is perfect. I love the chorus because it’s so catchy and the instrumentals make it even better. Now I not a big Celine Dion fan but I do love a lot of her best known hits, and this is one of them. Despite a few differences in the music, and the power in the vocals, I believe that melody. did a great cover and does this song justice.

Overall Review: Haruka was a bright, shining superb single. I found the title track to be so deep and emotionally driven, you can’t help but like. The first B-Side was so great, it’s perfect, especially after a deep and almost sad song. But one of the best touches was the cover song. This, besides the title track, is the highlight of the single. melody. has really been coming out with some great material lately. An intoxicating way to begin and end the Lei Aloha Era.

Final Grade: 97A