Japan’s Dreams Come True Pursues American Hearts

If you knew that Dreams Come True co-founder Masato “Masa” Nakamura had composed music for video games, you might have expected the first L.A. concert by Japan’s foremost pop group to sound as synthetic as one of those soundtracks. But Monday at the El Rey Theatre, Nakamura and vocalist-songwriter Miwa Yoshida performed real music with a real band, demonstrating a deep affinity for traditional American soul and funk.

Having sold 25 million copies of its nine albums in Japan over the last decade, Dreams Come True is hoping to charm Western audiences with its brand of slick, energetic pop. Thus, the 75-minute set featured only one Japanese-language tune, instead focusing on the duo’s latest album and first U.S. release, “Sing or Die,” featuring songs written in English that are as preoccupied with romance and heartbreak as any mainstream act in this hemisphere.

The bubbly Yoshida, her enthusiasm recalling the perpetual good cheer of Canadian singer Celine Dion, was clearly the star of the show, riding high on the adoration from a capacity crowd of mostly Asian fans. Her blues- and jazz-tinged phrasing revealing a love of such American divas as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, she wailed soulfully, sometimes engaging in call-and-response-style vocal give-and-take with backup singer Robin Clark. The multiracial band, complete with a quartet of horns, adeptly handled the album’s range of styles, from the funk-inflected single “Song of Joy” to the spare, percussion-and-a cappella tribal pop of “Kelo Kelo” to the dramatic rock of “This Is Not Love at All.”

The songs displayed a surprising lack of memorable hooks, however, and never quite overcame a vague sense of prefabrication. Even Yoshida’s considerable charms failed during the schmaltzy ballads, when her performance descended into emotional cliche. Although the musical diversity did keep the show from falling into any single groove for too long, that diversity also kept the uninitiated listeners from really getting to know the band.