A few days ago J-Rock/visual kei band theGazettE released two twenty second previews to what appears to be two singles releases (maybe) from their new upcoming album DIVISION which is due to be released on the 28th of August. Being a diehard fan of theGazettE when I saw these two video clips pop up onto my youtube home page a little fangirl in me squealed.
Ibitsu was the first clip I saw and to be honest even though it's only a small segment of the song I am very excited to hear the full thing. I love heavy instrumentation from theGazettE because it does make me pumped when I listen to songs of theirs that follow that pattern. I am also massive fan of Ruki's voice and because of the autotune that was heavily used in their last album TOXIC I was very happy to hear clean vocals in this song. The smoothness of the vocals and the simplicity of the effects used on the voice makes it simple and underrated when put together with the instrumentation so it sounds fantastic but it isn't too heavy for my little ears to bear. The music video does look simple in this with the use of the black and white and there are just clips of the band but then again this is only a small fragment of the music video so there may be a storyline that could also be showcased in this but who knows? We'll just have to wait and see. The use of the black and white does make the music video look sleek and clean, but this effect has been used in previous PVs before like Pledge and Remember The Urge so I hope there's something in this video that breaks it away from them other two singles.
I then listened to Derangment straight after Ibitsu and again I like this song as well but not as much as Ibitsu. This does sound like something you could hear from TOXIC so it does make me wonder whether they will be going with near enough the same sound for the DIVISION album. Again there is heavy instrumentation in this track yet again, but it seems more jagged whereas in Ibitsu the progression was much more clean cut for me. I do like the transition from Ibitsu to this though. I definitely see this as a single that will be released. The vocals aren't as clean on this due to some distortion and autotune on the vocals but it does add more layers to the song and allows it to be a very busy with the instrumentation. I really do like the cuts used in this video and how there are red filters on some shots of Ruki, and it does remind me of The Invisible Wall which was the first theGazettE song I heard so it's nice to remember those memories through this song. The storyline in this video seems to be centred around a male protagonist who is engaging in some sort of sexual activity with a female and for some reason he does remind me of the male protagonist from The Suicide Circus. Maybe it's the same guy? I am interested to see where the storyline goes. Again there are English lyrics in this song and I can hear it from Ruki's Engrish. I sometimes find it difficult to understand what Ruki is singing when he's singing in English but once I find the lyrics then I will be excited to hear what the song is about! They also seem to be maintaining the same simple style that they had from TOXIC so it is a shame that they have gone safe with their look because through their career they have been known to change it up to make it exciting but this time they've decided to keep it safe for their own reasons. Maybe it is to make fans concentrate on the music? Or maybe some other reason? Anyhow I do like this style even if some people may like their more extravagant styles that they have gone for in the past.
Both of these songs are amazing so it does make me as a fan get high expectations for the album. The title DIVISION sounds kick ass so I hope the album is too!
Today it has been announced that H!P's solo artist Mano Erina will be graduating from Hello!Project in February 2013. This announcement randomly came out of the blue and I guess it will be another emotional obstacle for die hard H!P fans to get over, especially after the double graduation of Risa Niigaki and Aika Mitsui a little while back.The dust had seemed to settle from the shock of Risa and Aika's graduation so with this new graduation announcement it will shake up the H!P fandom once again.
I've been a fan of Hello!Project for a few years now but I only started listening to Mano Erina a year ago when some dubbers I knew covered her songs and I thought they sounded very good. Recently, with her newest releases like Doki Doki Baby, My Days for You and especially Song For The Date I was really really starting to like her a lot. She has a fantastic voice and I do love her more mature style compared to her idol character earlier on in her career. Recently, with how mature she's starting to become and look I did think she was trying to break away from her typical idol image, and now with the graduation coming up in February I should have seen this coming really. I understand Mano Erina is in her twenties now and she wants to expand her horizons so she isn't always known as the soloist of H!P.
To be honest I am sad that she is graduating, but I'm not as sad as when I heard Takahashi Ai was graduating back in September last year. Mano is a singer I'm really starting to get close to as a fan, so it's a shame she's leaving as soon as I'm becoming a big fan of her music. She is a fantastic actress and she is graduating to pursue acting so I do think it would be good for her if she did graduate so she can create her own image and isn't anchored as a Hello!Project idol for the rest of her career.
Today Berryz Kobou's 29th single cha cha SING's MV was released on youtube. When the sneak peek of the song was revealed a little while ago, despite it only being a 3 minute chunk of the song, I couldn't get the catchy melody and tune of the song out of my head. At random moment, I kept singing chachachachacha in my head for hours on end!
When I heard the title of the song before I heard the song properly, my first reaction was that it would be another upbeat, happy song like Be Genki was. I did love Be Genki but I was hoping that cha cha SING would be something completely different. When I heard the style of the song and it's Thai influences I was kind of shaken off the trails that my expectations had lead me to. I never really listen to Thai/Indian style music but I loved how cha cha SING converged the Thai genre and the classical H!P pop sound together to create a hybrid that follows the classic H!P fans expectations, but still allows them to discover a new genre of music that they wouldn't normally want to give a chance to in the first place. I think in the past H!P was very predictable with what the expectations were when it came to the fans. However, I am very optimistic about this new transitions of a new H!P with Morning Musume's success with One Two Three and now with Berryz Kobou venturing into new territories with their music!
The setting of the MV definitely reminded me of Happy Summer Wedding and Koko No Iruzee! The use of colours with the backdrop definitely reminded me of Koko No Iruzee and then the costume were like a modern update of the Happy Summer Wedding costumes. The song is very busy in terms of melodies and tune, and so I was very happy that the music video wasn't too complicated or over the top. The cuts throughout the music video were very clean and I loved how each member was showcased equally. The solo shots and the dance shot coincided with each other very well and each of the members looked like they were having a lot of fun in the dance and their solo shots, so it allowed a good pace throughout the final MV and it maintained their happy energy throughout it! Of course, to make smooth transitions I did notice one or two more serious, pouty shots and Risako's and Maasa's definitely stuck in my head the most! Captain also stood out for me a lot in this video as well, and even though she doesn't get many lines in comparison to Miyabi I think she definitely stood out in the music video with her contagious smile and facial expressions!
I was a big massive fan of the costumes, especially the head pieces. I knew it was meant to suit a Thai style but the first thing that came to my head was The Tudors with how large and royal the headpieces looked. Not many people may agree with me, but I did think of Tudor fashion when I first saw them, but that's just my interpretation. I also loved the colour co-ordination of the outfits with Risako, Miyabi and Momoko wearing red tops and then the rest were wearing blue. When I first saw the costumes I thought Yurina might have been wearing red because she does have a lot of lines so I thought the red would symbolise the main singers of the single, but now I've seen the dance shot it would look uneven if Yurina did wear red as well. I think the use of red and blue was very effective and it did show the girls in a royal light, and it co-ordinated well with the yellow so it didn't clash badly. They also looked very comfortable to dance in as well, so I was glad that it allowed the girls to dance spectacularly in this.
The dance routine does look very easy to follow and learn and I know a lot of J-Pop dancers on youtube (like myself) will be learning this dance and be uploading it within next week! I don't blame them, the dance looks very fun and easy to learn and I also loved how like the song the dance also used traditional moves that are also very easy for audience to recognise.
I was very happy that this song showcased all of the members of Berryz and I do think each member gets at least 2 solo lines, and I think it showcased all of them brilliantly because I cannot deny how talented every member of Berryz Kobou is. I am not the biggest fan of Momoko though but I cannot deny that she sounded very mature in this and this is what I've wanted to see/hear for a long time to come. I'm not a huge fan of her kiddy idol character and I have been wanting her to act more mature so I was happy that music video did make her look a little more grown up despite those awful pigtails. Risako Sugaya (my bias) once again blew me away with her amazing vocals and her vibrato used in this musical style does show that Risako is a very talented singer!!!!
