''Peacebird'' is the fourth album by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

singer and songwriter

Johan Christher Schütz Johan Christher Schütz is a Swedish songwriter and music producer. He has also released music as a solo performer. Life and career Early years Born and raised outside the small town of Mjölby, Östergötland, he started singing and playin ...

, first released

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ously under the pseudonym Peacebird in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on October 5, 2011, with a pre-release on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Japan on the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

' International Day of Peace, September 21. Outside of Japan the album is called ''Slow Down'', after the first track, and just like his previous albums it was released under Schütz full name. All songs are written, arranged and produced by Schütz, and the album has a wide range of influences, mainly 1970's soul, funk, pop and acoustic British folk. Schütz relaxed vocal style with jazzy phrasing and love for syncopations creates a tension, as most songs on the album are uptempo, such as the first track ''Slow Down'' which in deed is not a slow song at all. The album was recorded in Sweden, Japan and Brazil with musicians such as Japanese bass player

Reiji Okii is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Reiji can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *礼二, "salute, two" *礼司, "salute, rule" *礼治, "salute, govern" *玲次, "sound of jewels, next" *怜児, "w ...

, Brazilian drummer Di Stéffano, Swedish horn players Andreas Andersson (alto and soprano saxophones) and Karin Hammar (trombone), and some songs including groove by Glenn Fransson (bass) and Jocke Sandén (drums). Japanese guitar player Yoshinari Nakamatsu is also participating in two songs, and the backing vocals are sung by Swedish jazz singer Lovisa Lindkvist and Japanese soul singer Chihiro Fujita. Schütz plays all other instruments on the album, including guitar, piano, keyboards,

cavaquinho The cavaquinho (pronounced in Portuguese) is a small Portuguese string instrument in the European guitar family, with four wires or gut strings. More broadly, ''cavaquinho'' is the name of a four-stringed subdivision of the lute family of instr ...

, and also utilized loops and programmings in all songs in varying degrees. A music video for the jazzy ''Pickin' Up The Pieces'' was published on YouTube along with the pre-release on iTunes Japan, showing extreme close-ups of Schütz' face with a crystal-clear image, working well with the song's melancholic theme of farewell. The song ''Let The Sunlight In'' was originally released by Japanese singer

Toki Asako is a Japanese singer-songwriter and lyricist. Born to jazz saxophonist Hidefumi Toki, she was the lead vocalist for the rock band Cymbals between 1997 and 2003. Following Cymbals' breakup, Toki began her solo career with the release of ''Standards ...

on her 2008 album ''Touch''. During every day of the first week of the release, ''Slow Down'' was one of the three most played songs on Japanese FM radio stations in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

metropolitan regions, and two of these days the most played song. It was also the most played foreign song during all October.Official website, accessed 2011-10-08: http://www.jcschutz.com There are two discrepancies between the original Japanese ''Peacebird'' edition and the later international ''Slow Down'' edition. On the Japanese ''Peacebird'' edition, the third track ''Anything For You'' accidentally received the same title as the fourth track ''Pickin' Up The Pieces'' on all digital platforms. This was rectified for the ''Slow Down'' digital release. The Original Japanese ''Peacebird'' CD included a download code for a free bonus track called ''Happy Birthday'', an original song by Schütz written and recorded at the same time as the rest of the songs. For the ''Slow Down'' digital release this song was included as well.

Track listing

# "Slow Down" # "Baby Just Relax" # "Anything For You" # "Pickin' Up The Pieces" # "Let The Sunlight In" # "A Little Bit More Real" # "Don't Bring It Up" # "I Love You" # "After The Rain" # "Happy Birthday"

References

External links

www.jcschutz.com
* * * {{Authority control J. C. Schütz albums 2011 albums