"Shine More" (styled in lowercase letters) is the 23rd single by Japanese recording artist

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

. It was released on March 5, 2003, by

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

and serves as the second single from her sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

'' (2003). "Shine More" was originally written by Scott Nickoley, Sandra Pires and Paul Taylor, while the lyrics were translated into

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

by H.U.B. Amuro called the song the first part of a

dance number Dance Number (foaled March 28, 1979 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred mare who retired having equaled or broken three track records for breeder and owner Ogden Phipps. Racing career Trained by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Angel ...

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

including " Put 'Em Up" and " So Crazy." Musically, "Shine More" is an up-tempo R&B and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

song with thick vocal work and rushing, minor-key strings. Its lyrics describe the protagonist still loving someone after a breakup, but deciding not to chase after them. The song was recorded in the now-defunct Baybridge Studio, which was located in

Shibaura is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The district is located between the eastern side of the Yamanote Line train and Tokyo Bay. Shibaura consists mostly of artificial islands created by the excavation of indust ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. "Shine More" was warmly received by music critics for its production value, with some lauding it as a highlight from her discography. Commercially, "Shine More" performed moderately in Japan, peaking at number eight on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

. The single was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...

(RIAJ) for shipping over 100,000 units nationwide. The track was additionally used as the Mandom Lucido-L Prism Magic Hair Colour commercial song. Since its release, the song has appeared on several of Amuro's

concert tours A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

, as well as her

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

album ''

Best Fiction ''Best Fiction'' is the third greatest hits album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro. It was released on July 30, 2008, by Avex Trax and features seventeen singles released between 2002-2008, which included five new songs, three of which were release ...

'' (2008).

Background and composition

Following her stint as a member of the collaborative project Suite Chic, she switched to R&B/

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

for the album ''Style''. She commented on the songs, "I released an album in which I did everything I wanted to do in Suite Chic, and I was able to release this album in the good vein of that." Incidentally, one week before the release of "Shine More," she released the original album '' When Pop Hits the Fan'' under the Suite Chic umbrella. Amuro called "Shine More" the first part of a

including " Put 'Em Up" and " So Crazy." The original demo of "Shine More" was recorded in English by Sandra Pires under the title "Catching Up On You." "Shine More" was written by Scott Nickoley, Sandra Pires and Paul Taylor, while H.U.B. translated the lyrics into

. It was recorded at the now-defunct Baybridge Studio in

, mixed by David Z., and

mastered Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...

by Yasuji Yasuman Maeda. Musically, "Shine More" is an up-tempo R&B and

song with thick vocal work and rushing, minor-key strings. It lyrically describes the protagonist still loving her estranged lover after a breakup, but deciding not to chase after them.

Release and promotion

released "Shine More" in Japan on March 5, 2003, in

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

and physical formats."shine more" formats listed below: * * It serves as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from Amuro's sixth

'' (2003). The

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

and digital format include the titular track along with the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

"Drive," which is the fourth consecutive song written by Amuro herself, following the previous B-side song " Did U." When news of the new single was first announced, it was titled "Ride It". The title was changed to "Drive" and it was included as a B-side. Ugichin directed the video for "Shine More." The shooting for the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Shine More" took place in mid-February 2003 at a studio in the suburbs of

. The music video portrays Amuro and her

backup dancers A backup dancer also known as background dancer is a performer who dances with or behind the lead performers in a live musical act or in a music video. Their movements (especially where there are many moving together) improve the visual aesthetic ...

dancing on a Japanese-style stage set that is painted white. The song and video were included in ''

'', with the video appearing on her video album '' Filmography 2001-2005'' (2005). Since its release, "Shine More" has appeared on four of Amuro's concert tours and subsequent live releases: ''So Crazy Best Singles'', ''Space of Hip-Pop'', ''Live Style 2006'', and ''Best Fiction''. To promote the song, “Shine More” was used in a

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for Mandom's "Lucido-L Prism Magic Hair Color" in which she appears.

Reception

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

gave "Shine More" positive reviews.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

recognized it as one of Amuro's best songs. Japanese magazine ''CDJournal'' reviewed the single, as well as its appearances on ''Style'' and Amuro's

album ''

'' (2008). ''CDJournal'' positively stated that Amuro's vocals have become more relaxed and have become more lustrous. Furthermore, its appearance on ''Style'' was praised for is combination of dark sensations and cool pop. In their ''Best Fiction'' review, the magazine stated that the song had "medium R&B with a European flavor" and praised Paul Tyler's and the rest of the overseas production team's contributions to the song. Commercially, "Shine More" underperformed in Japan. It debuted at number eight on the

, selling 27,938 copies in its first week. It dropped to number eighteen on its second week, logging sales of 11,020 copies, before dropping out of the top twenty entirely the following week. It remained on the charts for nine weeks in total, selling 52,268 copies by September 2018. Despite being viewed as a commercial disappointment, "Shine More" was still certified gold by the

(RIAJ).

Track listing

# "Shine More" (Paul Taylor, Scott Nickoley, Sandra Pires, H.U.B) – 3:40 # "Drive" (Cherokee, Brion James, Anthony Nance, Namie Amuro) – 4:24 # "Shine More (Instrumental)" (Paul Taylor, Scott Nickoley, Sandra Pires) – 3:40 # "Drive (Instrumental)" (Cherokee, Brion James, Anthony Nance) – 4:21

Digital download

# "Shine More" (Paul Taylor, Scott Nickoley, Sandra Pires, H.U.B) – 3:40 # "Drive" (Cherokee, Brion James, Anthony Nance, Namie Amuro) – 4:24

Personnel

*Namie Amuro –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, background vocals

Production

*Mixing – David Z. *Mixing assistant – Sang Park *Instrument programming – David L. Huff, Cobra Endo *Vocal direction – Mayumi Harada *Music video director – Ugichin *Choreographer – Warner

TV performances

*March 1, 2003 – PopJam *March 1, 2003 – CDTV *March 6, 2003 – AX Music Factory *March 7, 2003 – Music Station *March 10, 2003 – Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ *April 2, 2003 – CDTV Special *January 1, 2004 – CDTV Special Live 2003-2004

Charts

RIAJ certification

References

{{Authority control 2003 singles Namie Amuro songs Avex Trax singles 2003 songs