"Sometime Samurai" is a song written and performed by Japanese music producer

Towa Tei is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990 and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". He made his s ...

and Australian singer Kylie Minogue for Tei's album ''

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

'' (2005). It was originally recorded as a demo alongside "

GBI (German Bold Italic) "GBI (German Bold Italic)" is a 1997 song by Japanese-American music producer Towa Tei, featuring vocals from Australian singer Kylie Minogue, Japanese musician Haruomi Hosono, and co-written by Tei and Minogue. It is the lead single from Tei's s ...

" in 1996, but remained unreleased for eight years until Minogue had the opportunity to re-record her vocals in 2003. Before its inclusion on ''Flash'', the song was mentioned in Minogue's book '' Kylie: La La La''. The song was written about Minogue's then-boyfriend, photographer

Stéphane Sednaoui Stéphane Sednaoui () is a French director, photographer, film producer and actor. Over the years, Sednaoui has redefined his artistic approach to focus on his fine-art and cinematographic projects. New and existing work have been exhibited ...

. It was released in Japan as a promotional radio single to promote the release of ''Flash''. A music video was also made for the song, but did not feature Minogue as she was busy touring her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour.

Background and composition

In 1996, coming back to a studio in Sangenjaya, Setagaya, Japan after going for drinks, Tei received a hand-written

fax Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

that had "a picture of some sort" on it that said: "Music with you! Kylie. Call Me". She then came to Japan to perform and met Tei, at which point they worked on some songs for her album at Sangenjaya. The results of the session were "

" and a demo of "Sometime Samurai", with

Chisato Moritaka (born 11 April 1969) is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwriter. She is affiliated with Up-Front Create, a subsidiary of the Up-Front Group.

's drums being included. "GBI" was released as a single in 1997, while "Sometime Samurai" was left uncompleted. Minogue especially liked "Sometime Samurai", but her record company did not understand it, and it was ignored. By the time Tei was working on his fifth studio album ''

'' in late 2003, Minogue contacted Tei for the first time in years, saying: "I can't get over that song either. I should be able to sing it better now, so I'd like to re-record it. Can you come to London?" The song was finally completed in London and included on Tei's album. Dan Grunebaum from Japanese English-language magazine ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

'' described the track as "about as kitschy as they come, with the lithesome Minogue burbling over a four-to-the-floor house beat and elastic, sampled sitars."

Release and reception

The song was used for a commercial celebrating the 80th Anniversary of , the most popular brand of Japanese mayonnaise, in 2005.

Visuals

The music video for the song was directed by Daniel Gorrel and edited by Evan Andrews. "Sometime Samurai" is featured as a backdrop interlude video on Minogue's KylieX2008 concert tour.

Formats and track listings

*Japanese promotional radio CD single #"Sometime Samurai" (Radio edit) – 3:39 *Japanese limited released ''Melody / Sometime Samurai'' 12" EP #"Melody" – 6:13 #"Melodypella" – 2:24 #"Risk Some Soul" – 4:33 #"Sometime Samurai" – 3:58 #"Red Card Jumbo" – 0:44

Credits and personnel

* Lyrics and music – Kylie Minogue and

* Vocals – Kylie Minogue * E.Guitars – Hiroshi Takano and Hajime Tachibana * Bass and Moog – Yumiko Ohno * Drums –

Chisato Moritaka (born 11 April 1969) is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwriter. She is affiliated with Up-Front Create, a subsidiary of the Up-Front Group.

* A Samurai –

References

{{Kylie Minogue songs 2005 singles 1996 songs Kylie Minogue songs Songs written by Kylie Minogue Songs written by Towa Tei Towa Tei songs