CHAI Share Upbeat Cover of Mariya Takeuchi’s “Plastic Love”

CHAI have shared cover of Mariya Takeuchi’s single “Plastic Love,” which was first released in 1984. The Japanese girl group have released the cover as part of their first release on the Sub Pop record label, with the covers appearing as a B-side to the 7″ release that contains their single “Donuts Mind If I Do.”

The cover features CHAI singing “Plastic Love” in upbeat tones amid the funky guitars and clapping drums. They sing the Japanese lyrics and stick to the song’s original sound while introducing more synths to help modernize the instruments. CHAI’s version of the track also includes a shorter intro, with their vocals laying at a higher tone from Takeuchi’s sound.

Takeuchi’s “Plastic Love” first appeared on her album Variety in 1984, with the song being released as a single the following year. The track gained more popularity over the past year, when a remixed version was uploaded to YouTube in 2018, before being taken down due to copyright issues with the album artwork. The song was eventually re-uploaded, and has continued to rise in popularity.

CHAI first formed in 2012, and is made up of twin sisters Mana and Kana, along with their friends Yuna and Yuuki. Yuna had gone to the same high school as Mana and Kana, with Yuuki meeting Mana in university. The group started self-releasing singles in 2013, with their first full length album, Pink, getting released in 2017 via Otemoyan Record and Burger Records. Their sophomore album, Punk, was released in 2019 via both Otemoyan Record and Burger Records.

“Plastic Love” comes as CHAI’s sixth single this year, and follows “Ready Cheeky Pretty,” “Keep On Rocking,” “No More Cake,” “Donuts Mind If I Do” and their tri-lingual collaboration with Hinds, “UNITED GIRLS ROCK’N’ROLL CLUB.”