Leah Dizon – FOR THE WORLD May 4, 2024

Track Listing

1. FOR THE WORLD
2. STAR
3. A Little Memory
4. Purple Rain
5. futuReLover

1. FOR THE WORLD

Opening the mini-album, FOR THE WORLD kind of starts kind of cutesy, like The Little Mermaid poppy vibes for some reason.  It has been a while since I’ve heard Leah’s vocals and this track has her singing in a much airy and lighter tone than I remembered from her (granted it’s been so long as it is).  Not sure how I feel about the song though as its kind of a little too, I don’t know plain for me?  It’s got a somewhat light tropical feel, but it doesn’t lean enough for me and Leah’s tone is kind of a bit too on the same frame and the ending of the choruses are kind of weird to me.

2. STAR

At least the 2nd track picks things up and boy was I not expecting that intro to sound so oddly cheap for Leah.  I do appreciate the song being kind of a little jazzy and showtune-like, but I will say that I notice that Leah’s vocals have at least somewhat gotten better from what I remember as she has a lovely vibrato going on.  I was just taken aback by the arrangement…could’ve used actual instruments there.  Though as I do notice the verses are a bit annoying being up and down on the same notes.  The chorus is much better!

3. A Little Memory

That same jazzy vibe continues with the next track, A Little Memory and I actually do prefer this track more as it works with Leah’s more lighter vocals and the softness really fills the arrangement nicely with the piano playing behind her.  This might be my favorite track off the mini-album.  Very fitting for her and just felt right!

4. Purple Rain

When I saw the title, I was a little worried that it could’ve been a Prince cover, but luckily it’s not that.  I’m not sure what this song is supposed to be style-wise as it feels kind of like a smidge of the previous two track, plus a garage-band esque groove with the musical cuts and importance out of the guitars in the track.  That said, it like “STAR” feels a bit cheaply made and handled to be honest.  Plus the laidbackness of Leah’s performance is just not working out here.

5. futuReLover

I expected that at least one of the songs was going to be a poppy dance number and futuReLover is kind of the oddball of the album.  It’s kind of has this ethereal kind of flow-y vibe to it that wouldn’t feel so out of place from Genki Rockets.  I actually do kind of like Leah’s thin vocals filling the track, letting the arrangement kind of shine.  It’s a cute song, I’ll give it that.

Wow, I kind of forgot about Leah Dizon after her stint singing a song for the Katamari Forever OST.  Anyways, yeah Leah Dizon came back to music in 2019 which meant we haven’t heard her since her 2008 album “Communication!!!” 11 years ago (minus the aforementioned OST which was 10 years ago).  It definitely was a case of she was dropped by Victor and went indies, I suppose?  Either way, FOR THE WORLD is kind of a weird album for me.  It seems she’s gotten slightly better at singing, but the arrangements she was given mostly sounded cheap and not really working with Leah’s vocals much (minus futuReLover).  This was kind of a surprise for me (now in 2024, getting to it).  Yeah, not the best, but she’s still wanting to do music which is great!

Nana Mizuki – ADRENALIZED

Track Listing

1. ADRENALIZED
2. sympathy
3. Yasashii Kioku

1. ADRENALIZED

I am qutie surprised Nana has more recently dived into a more synth/rock edge in her last few songs I’ve heard from her, but ADRENALIZED is literally a high-octane kind of track.  It’s definitely reminding me of songs like “FIRE SCREAM” with the same kind of aggressive style which let’s Nana’s vocals kind of just soar and bring out an immense sense of power.  I will say she sounds a bit more into the song and track is kind of rolling better for her.  Add that awesome guitar solo in the bridge and you’ve got a pretty kickass song!

2. sympathy

As the first B-side, sympathy is pretty much cut from the same cloth as “ADRENALIZED” it feels like since it’s more synths and guitars going wild.  I mean it’s not quite as punchy as the A-side and the chorus is a little annoying with the repetition of the title in the song.  It’s a little punkish perhaps, but not quite the B-side I’m interested in.

3. Yasashii Kioku

The other B-side is more on the slower side taking up as a rock ballad.  That said, this song doesn’t do much for me either as it’s kind of just that kind of song that doesn’t stick out to me.  I mean besides Nana’s vocals, there’s really not much to say here and I feel like she’s done this kind of track before, funny enough.

As the first single after “DELIGHTED REVIVER”, I should’ve expected that Nana would definitely continue following her synth/heavy rock mash of sounds for ADRENALIZED and it worked out pretty well as the song is energetic and just leaves me in awe once again.  Though sympathy and Yasashii Kioku are kind of like the standards (the former sounding like the A-side, didn’t really help here) and Yasashii Kioku is kind of a blah song for me.  Definitely am curious to see where the era goes.

RIIZE – RIIZING May 2, 2024

Track Listing

1. Siren
2. Impossible
3. 9 Days
4. Honestly
5. One Kiss

1. Siren

Interesting to start the mini-album with Siren since it’s the only place you could’ve hear Seunghan anywhere on the albuml but for whatever reason they edited it and took out Seunghan’s part.  Also interesting that it’s the first song RIIZE ever did, but it was only in a short version until a few months ago where they came back to it and extended it (without Seunghan of course).  I still think the first half is still pretty badass as it’s just edgy and urban and has a lot of wild spark about it.  Though when the ~eeny, meney, miney, moe~ from Shotaro kicks in then the song just starts to feel a little odd and then the tune feels maybe a little too cut n’ paste out as if they couldn’t really figure what to do except repeat and such.  To think it’s still only 2:30 in length though is kind of bizarre.

2. Impossible

So the next track is bolded because it was released digitally prior to the mini-album’s release though I didn’t review mostly because the single was this and “Siren” as the B-side, but the review would’ve immediately come out after my “Siren” review so it just felt unnecessary.  Onto the song itself, Impossible is probably my favorite of their songs since “Get A Guitar” as it focuses more on a house-style here.  The energy is fierce from beginning to end and I love that there’s a lot of equality when it comes to lines here (hey, I heard Anton quite a few times) but the song is mostly unison though due to the choruses basically.  It’s just a really fun song and gives a cool vibe honestly, best song of the mini-album!

3. 9 Days

Since the rest of the mini-album are new tracks, I was curious to see what they’d put out.  9 Days is kind of a simmer kind of track for me as it has some pretty interesting things going on but at the same time, the song just kind of feels a tad throwaway.  With RIIZE being so upbeat and seldom slower, this kind of mid-tempo track is kind of making it more like a B-side.  I do like hearing Shotaro, Sungchan, Anton, and Eunseok rapping though, it makes them kind of pop out in the song where Sohee and Wonbin pretty much sing.  Though Wonbin’s high tones are so I don’t know…strange to me…but eh.  Song is OK, and the choruses’ hooks are cute to say the least.

4. Honestly

Slowing it down a bit further with this R&B slow jam of a track, Honestly, is kind of interesting to me as I find the fact that the group is kind of just higher-pitched singers (minus Sungchan, but he too kind of sits on a higher tone than his normal rapping tone) is a little disheartening as I kind of miss that kind low tone from the group (probably was centered around Seunghan, I’m sure).  I do like Sohee, Anton, and Wonbin though, they seem to really vocally own it (though the auto-tune is a bit too much at times).  Not a great song TBH.

5. One Kiss

The mini-album ends with a song that kind of is a lighter “Memories” for me, but less memorable ironically.  I do like that all 6 members are getting lines and at first I was disappointed that Shotaro didn’t sing but rapped, but he did fix that up by the 2nd verse at least.  To me, the song is kind of in the same boat as “9 Days” where it’s OK, but I can definitely tell this wasn’t a track that had leading quality about it.  Eh…

Jeeze, RIIZE just has been kind of a mess since Seunghan’s hiatus.  RIIZING marks the first mini-album for the group and this is supposed to come out in June sometime, yet it came out digitally before May even hit which is kind absurd for a Kpop release if you ask me.  There might be more tracks added to the release in June, but if this is it, I’m not too impressed by RIIZING.  They really should’ve added the other tracks like “Memories”, “Get A Guitar”, “Talk Saxy” and “Love 119” to the release and just made an album (granted I’d still be kind of meh at the release, but at least all their releases would be together on one release).

ME:I – MIRAI April 25, 2024

Track Listing

1. Click
2. Sugar Bomb
3. &ME (ME:I Ver.) (Regular only)
4. CHOPPY CHOPPY (ME:I Ver.) (Regular only)

1. Click

Kind of was curious to tackle the leading song for this group’s debut and honestly, it’s curious because the song is Japanese but the arrangement and style just screams K-pop for sure.  It reminds me of like early TWICE releases as it’s sparkly and cute and bubbly of course. I will say for 11 members, I really enjoy most of the group’s vocals (with the slight exception to Cocoro and Rinon who kind of oddly stick out in the song to me.  Though I guess on the whole, the other 9 members kind of just gel together for me so their voices don’t quite have obvious personality behind them (except for Keiko who raps and the aforementioned oddballs).

2. Sugar Bomb 

As the main B-side, Sugar Bomb feels VERY much like a K-pop song with more of a syncopated sound and a cooler vibe compared to the cuteness out of “Click”…actually it kind of sounds like a NewJeans song to be honest.  I definitely liked the poppy energy of this one and while I feel the vocal colors are even dimmer in this one (they all kind of sing in a whispy, thin tone), I still found myself bopping my head to the rhythms and such.  That chorus though was pretty awesome though!

3. &ME (ME:I Ver.)

So the regular editions come with more tracks, both of them were used during PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS but were re-recorded with the final lineup (the winners).  I am SO happy that &ME was redone because besides “TOXIC”, this was the best song from the show itself and the touch-up and they did keep some of the original things like Tsuzumi’s ~butterfly~ lines which were so good.  &ME is definitely the group’s aggressive track for the single and it just is sooo good!  There’s just something cool about this one and some of the chanting parts definitely scream TWICE, but there’s a smidge of that anison style rolling in it.  Definitely the single’s best track!

4. CHOPPY CHOPPY (ME:I Ver.)

CHOPPY CHOPPY though wasn’t the best choice I would’ve gone with because sound-wise it kind of sticks out in an odd way.  I suppose it has an interesting arrangement being a bit electronic and somewhat overtly poppy and has a lot of little things going on in the song.  I will say the pre-chorus with the playful piano melody stuck out, but this song is pretty cutesy even moreso than “Click” was.  Maybe this will grow on me with more listens.

So it’s very curious to me just out of the blue now reviewing a new J-pop girl group out of the gates, but I am super happy that I can take on a PRODUCE 101 group such as ME:I here.  What truly got my attention is that Momona Kasahara (ex-ANGERME) is the leader of this group and kind of the main face (she pretty much dominated PRODUCE 101, so I find it amazing to see her here after leaving Hello! Project (as she was starting to blossom in the group honestly).  Anyways, MIRAI is a pretty decent single overall with a lot of backing and money behind it.  Really enjoyed Click, Sugar Bomb, and &ME a great deal and CHOPPY CHOPPY is decent enough to get by.  I’m hoping during their time together that they’ll at least grow vocally to give themselves character and I can really get to know these members more.

Koda Kumi – UNICORN April 24, 2024

Track Listing

1. UNICORN [Introduction]
2. Heaven’s Kitchen
3. Vroom
4. TOKIO
5. Silence
6. UFO
7. We are FIGHTERS
8. Trust・Last -TYPE K-
9. PIECE OF MY WISH
10. Tooi Machi de Dokoka de…
11. Let’s fight for love!

1. UNICORN [Introduction]

Opening the album, UNICORN is kind of a shocker begins with some muffled noises before a dirty electronic riff kicks in with Kuu spending the title and singing some things.  Considering it’s a minute long, the tune is pretty aggressive and kind of makes me wish she continued to lengthen out intro songs such as this (of course if this would be the case, we’d see the longer cut on the next album).  Makes me wonder what is coming up for the album though…

2. Heaven’s Kitchen

I’m a little shocked as well to see how UNICORN was being handled since 4 songs were digitally released prior to the album and 4 of the new songs on the album are actually covers (there’s 5 covers, but one was a digital single).  I think if you are a BONNIE PINK fan, then this song should be familiar to you.  Honestly, after the introduction, I kind of had figured that the transition is going to be an awkward one as Heaven’s Kitchen is more rock-oriented versus the electronic whiplash.  I think Kuu does a solid job with what she had here, but the song is a bit too loose at times and I do feel like Kuu does kind of get covered up with the brash rock elements.  Definitely is more aggressive than BONNIE’s original, but I feel like we haven’t had rockstar Kuu in a while…

3. Vroom

So yeah the bolded songs are digital singles released prior to UNICORN’s release and I haven’t really paid attention to them until now so they feel like new songs to me.  I’m kind of wondering if this should’ve been right after “UNICORN” because it has that heavy club style going on that kind of suited more for it versus “Heaven’s Kitchen”.  I want to say I thoroughly enjoyed the song, but jeeze that chorus is a bit much, isn’t it?  Song is also a little over 3 minutes and yet, I felt like I just spent a little too much time trying to get used to this.  Beyond the chorus though, I actually enjoyed the verses a lot…it’s just that vapid chorus that takes me straight out.

4. TOKIO

Another cover song pops up next, this one a bit more older, a 1979 Kenji Sawada track and Kuu gave it a pretty safe electropop arrangement here.  I kind of felt like this song was more on the safe side of things for whatever reason?  Like the track’s arrangement is actually kind of nice and the bridge is probably the best part of the song, but there’s something about Kuu’s performance of the song that didn’t feel…right (maybe it’s the auto-tune?).  This might grow on me with more listens though.

5. Silence

We slow things down with Silence (which was the 4th and last single released for the album…there was a 5th but “Dangerously” is seemingly not on the album for some reason).  Anyways, Silence is that kind of melancholic ballad that Kuu always seems to bring out, but there’s something different about this one.  Relying more on the strings to carry the song than the piano, Silence just feels a bit more heartfelt and deep and Kuu is not trying to push her vocals to belt the track out which shows some good restraint for a song like this.  Surprised, but this isn’t half bad!

6. UFO

So I am familiar with this track originally done by Pink Lady (and was covered by Morning Musume more than a decade ago).  This version from Kuu takes the track to a more lounge-like style and the smokier and jazzier take of the song is quite something and I applaud Kuu’s vocals quite a bit here as they just suit the song really nicely.  I think of the cover songs, this is probably the best of them so that’s VERY good to see.

7. We are FIGHTERS

So we only get one brand new track (that isn’t a cover) and I’m sure how to feel about it to be honest lol.  This is kind of that urban try-hard kind of sound and I feel like this is kind of dated somewhat?  At least the sound feels kind of a bit behind the times.  I guess I can say that it’s an interesting song, but I also feel like this is something that should’ve come and gone a few albums ago!  It’s kind of just a weird song on the album and maybe it could be used better in live performances, but the studio cut is just kind of lacking in places.

8. Trust・Last -TYPE K

So this song isn’t new persay, it was originally a collaboration between her and the J-Rock band, Shonan no Kaze and this is pretty much her solo cut of the song and was also used as a theme for the Kamen Rider series.  That said, the changes made of the original are pretty obvious (taking out the vocalist from the band).  The song though is the same otherwise with the kind of pop/rock vibe that did better here than it did in “We are FIGHTERS”.  I think I still would’ve felt more interested had the original been on the album than a Kuu-only version, but it’s whatever.  One of the better tracks from the album and honestly, it could’ve been easily on “Black Cherry” or “Kingdom” to be honest XD.

9. PIECE OF MY WISH

Another cover comes up and is the last of the “new” tracks from the album as Kuu covers this classic 1991 Miki Imai track.  As we near closer to the end of the album, Kuu slows things down for a bit with this ballad.  Though unlike “Silence”, this is kind of the piano ballad that I’m just kind of over and done with from Kuu though I guess it can’t be helped too much considering it is a cover.  I just think this was a little too plain for my tastes, unfortunately.

10. Tooi Machi de Dokoka de…

The last of the cover tracks (and the one that was released as a digital single), this also 1991 song from Miho Nakayama gives Kuu a Christmas song fused with a bit of the original’s City Pop vibes and I kind of enjoyed the mixture?  I think it’s also partly due to this song coming right after the sleepy “PIECE OF MY WISH” that made me more interested here.  I will say it could’ve been a little more faster, but it’s still kind of a warm song for the season for sure though a bit long for being near 6 minutes.  Not bad!

11. Let’s fight for love!

The final track (and funny enough the first digital single for the album), I had totally skipped over this one and didn’t realize it came out before the previous track and “Silence” for that matter.  This song is some kind of mess here with the over-reliance of the auto-tune here and the song just sounds that 2000’s MTV pop sound and that kind of just doesn’t work here especially since it’s the album closer.  Just a big noooope from me.

Tracks Recommended

• UFO
• Silence
• Tooi Machi de Dokoka de…
• Trust・Last -TYPE K-
• Heaven’s Kitchen

Song of Avoidance

• Let’s fight for love!

Can someone tell me why she released UNICORN?  I feel like after “heart” I thought she’d actually do more for her next album and UNICORN is kind of more or less the same of what we’ve been getting from Kuu.  Though I did see some sparks like her covers of UFO, Tooi Machi de Dokoka de…, and Heaven’s Kitchen were pretty unique to say the least.  The original songs though beyond Silence and Trust・Last…total yikes.  I think the auto-tune needs to be taken away now because it’s just horrid to hear nowadays.  Plus, I don’t know but the album just didn’t sit right with me and I’m still trying to figure out as a whole why this album is probably worse than “heart”….

RIIZE – Siren April 3, 2024

Track Listing

1. Siren

1. Siren

Oh boy, well I guess to kind of do a pre-release before their next drop, they FINALLY dropped Siren which is extended, but by god is the song still short as fuck, only making 2:30 in length (which is arguably only 10 seconds shorter than “Get A Guitar”).  Now since this was pre-debut, Siren was definitely a hype-bomb with it’s aggressive arrangement and heavily 90’s urban sound that caught everyone off.  I still love the first half of the song (the original bit that we heard), it’s just that latter half felt kind of lazy and thrown together without much thought going on.  Like nothing worked together.  Add in that Seunghan is nowhere to be found (despite being in the original), this just kind of feels…too lacking for me.

Yikes, I don’t think this was the right direction to take Siren.  I think a bit more time should’ve been spent smoothing out the edges and not cobbling ideas together.  This is why I’m not a big fan of short clips being teased for months and then a “fuller” version is just thrown together for a quick buck, this just wasn’t it…Though mmmm, it’s nice to have Siren at least released, but damn…the digital single could’ve thrown in the short version too…

UVERworld – Eye’s Sentry April 1, 2024

Track Listing

1. Eye’s Sentry
2. High Light!!
3. über cozy universe
4. CORE PRIDE (Anime edition only)
5. REVERSI (Anime edition only)
6. Itteki no Eikyou (Anime edition only)
7. Eye’s Sentry (Anime ver.) (Anime edition only)
8. Eye’s Sentry (Instrumental)

1. Eye’s Sentry

Opening the single, Eye’s Sentry brings UVER back to their anison side of things with this one and it definitely has a good kick to it, especially with SEIKA having that saxophone solo right after TAKUYA’s intro to the song.  I actually enjoy the energy and power of the band as well, making this one of their better songs as of recent for sure.  The strings in the song mixing in with the synthwork and band just did wonders for the song.  Really makes up for what “Pygmalion” couldn’t do.

2. High Light!!

As the main B-side, High Light!! seems like more of a song used for live performances with the easy to follow chanting and crazy sound.  Though I’m more surprised that after the introduction, it switches to a synth-heavy sound which caught me off guard.  I was a little worried because TAKUYA wasn’t singing and SEIKA had a longer sax solo going on right up until 1:25 where TAKUYA finally starts to rap some lines out.  Though most of the song is instrumental it seems as the spaces between vocals is pretty wide here in a 4 minute track.  I’d honestly would like to see a more synth-centric track be an A-side to be honest, something like what “GO-ON” was.

3. über cozy universe

Moving onto the main last track of the single, über cozy universe’s length was obviously hinting that this was the actual instrumental piece of the single (something UVERworld loves to do on their singles).  As I’m listening through the 1:42 of this track, the song is foreboding and kind of darker edge to their stuff.  Though a voice kicks in and just amps up the song to introduce UVERworld and the band plays a smidge and next thing you know, it’s over.  I’ll never understand these tracks on their singles, but they could easily work with them to make fuller tracks, honestly…

4. CORE PRIDE

.> So we’re doing this again, huh?  Because Eye’s Sentry is tied to the Ao no Exorcist anime, it seems like they’re once again bringing back the other themes from before (like they did with “Itteki no Eikyou”).  Kind of a dumb thing to do, but here we are.  Granted, I still do love this song, so I can’t be too angry.  I definitely still think it’s the best of the themes from the series as it just has a lot of energy and the opening is still beyond awesome.

5. REVERSI

REVERSI though isn’t too far behind as it too is a pretty hard-hitting song and even though it was an recut single, it was a great choice to make a single because the song is also powerful and just has the band at its best here.  I think I enjoy “CORE PRIDE” more because of SEIKA’s contribution to the song and the overall melody, but this is definitely a close second.

6. Itteki no Eikyou

Probably my least favorite of the Ao no Exorcist themes, though it’s mostly because it doesn’t hit quite as hard as “CORE PRIDE” or “REVERSI” does and has a bit more acoustic guitar thrown in, but did have saxophones.  Kind of listening to it now, it’s like it was made with the same edgy power as the other songs but stripped a bit to make it stand out from its predecessors.  It’s fine, but as I said, still probably stands as the weakest link between the 4 (Eye’s Sentry included).

Since UVERworld has taking half-a-year off to do concerts to support “ENIGMASIS”, they returned with Eye’s Sentry and it’s fine, dare I say I do like both the title track and High Light!! as they show more progression and experimentation with their music.  über cozy universe is kind of their typical short instrumental piece which is here nor there for me.  I biggest qualm is why they’re doing the ALL OF Ao no Exorcist themes again because they did it on “Itteki no Eikyou” so it’s bizarre to see SONY pull this card out so soon.  I know it’s strictly the Anime edition of the single, but it’s still too cash-grabby for me.  Hopefully this era will bring more experimentive music from the band for sure.

NCT DREAM – DREAM()SCAPE March 26, 2024

Track Listing

1. icantfeelanything
2. Smoothie
3. BOX
4. Carat Cake
5. UNKNOWN
6. Breathing

1. icantfeelanything

As the opening intro to the mini-album, icantfeelanything was a shocking start for me.  I didn’t think an intro would end up being a song that would just blow me away.  I love the ethereal vibe of the song and that all 7 members get a line and especially the ~erased from my mind~ really stuck out to me.  The build-up.  It’s two minutes long and EASILY could’ve been stretched out longer to be honest because I’m left feeling, wanting more out of this song!  I do like the beat drop and quick beats that remind me of NCT U’s “The BAT”, but this is a solid opening piece from them!

2. Smoothie

Are NCT DREAM now the food group of NCT (“Hot Sauce” would join in too).  NCT DREAM has never really done a darker themed song, maybe the closest is something like “Boom” was, but this goes so much further.  I quite like hearing the group doing something different and this gives the group a better chance to show off their lower-end vocals.  I really like the energy here and the group splits to the darker tones of hearing Jaemin, Mark, Jeno, and Jisung to the more livelier tones coming from Renjun, Haechan, and Chenle.  Though if there’s anything I gotta say, may not feel good…it’s the chorus with the repetitive of them saying ~smoothie~ (though an exception is Jisung who kind of whispers the word a few times in his solo part of the 2nd chorus).  Just a smidge annoying (reminding me of “Baggy Jeans” for some reason).  It’s fine, but after “ISTJ”, this is a bit of a downgrade for me.

3. BOX

Onto the rest of the new tracks, BOX comes first and this actually comes off a bit 90’s hip-hop which is fun to listen, but then the chorus hits and I’m given a boyband sound from the same time period.  I definitely catch the beat and the rappers of the group have a good time riding the beat as well.  It’s a pretty solid track and I’ve been noticing a LOT of Jisung so far on the release which is really nice to see.  Kind of slightly old Super Junior vibes here too.  I dig it!

4. Carat Cake

Oh the pun!  I was surprised to hear Mark open the song and then the track just gets this cool dance beat to it that caught me attention.  I think this may try to be the cute song of the mini and it’s kind of working because it’s really catchy of a song.  I like the ethereal vibes return that feels a lot like “icantfeelanything”, but this is more upbeat and maybe a little throwback to their more youthful side.  Though I’m a little surprised that it’s only 2:30 in length…felt like it zoomed by similarly to the actual opening track hahah.  It’s fun and quirky, feels on par with the mini-album.

5. UNKNOWN

I will say, this track kind of feels very on point for the album’s release for sure.  Though this 2000’s vibe of the song is kind of moody and the smoothness of the track and vocal performance (outside the rapping) is very pleasant to listen to.  It’s a positive-sounding track and the R&B vibes just make the song much more soft and nice.  Yeah, this was pretty good too!

6. Breathing

As we hit the final track on the release, Breathing is the obvious ballad of the mini-album and I wasn’t surprised by this much as I felt the mood of the tracklist lead to this point.  Though, I do think there’s other songs that NCT DREAM has done as ballads that really stuck out more to me.  Though I also feel like it gives me a slower “Hello Future” vibe for whatever reason.  It’s fine, but might be the weakest for me here.

It felt like it’s been a hot minute since NCT DREAM released a mini-album (though I had totally forgot about 2022’s “Candy” which means it’s only been over a year.  I have to say, DREAM()SCAPE is very good and melding the tone of the release (with the exception of Smoothie, which I felt didn’t belong here).  Still, I really enjoyed this mini-album, flowed nicely all the songs stuck out to me (well…except Breathing).  Not sure what NCT DREAM will do next, but I think it’s a good release overall and a good early release for 2024.

Nami Tamaki – Singularity March 21, 2024

Track Listing

1. BREAK THE CHAIN
2. Open the GATE feat. Kitadani Hiroshi
3. Connect the Truth
4. Resolve
5. BEYOND THE TIME ~Möbius no Sora wo Koete~
6. Ashita no Yuuki ni Hi wa Noboru
7. Believe (2023 rearrange ver.)
8. Realize (2023 rearrange ver.)
9. Reason (2023 rearrange ver.)
10. Reborn
11. Shoot (from HIGHWAY STAR -Covers- session) (bonus track)

1. BREAK THE CHAIN

As the opening to the album, a LOT of the album is previously released material as such is the case for BREAK THE CHAIN which is technically the 2nd single released (although it’s the first of the digital singles she dropped for the album).  It’s no surprise that Nami kicks things off with a song that explodes and really gives off what the album is going to be about and that’s just an aggressive anison album lol!  The feeling of her past anison days are in full thrust in the song and it would definitely fit in amongst those track I would say?  Though there is a lack of togetherness with the song that kind of bothers me and Nami’s voice is kind of different when compared to those works, almost a little more honky?  I know she went through vocal nodules back in 2015 (this song came out in 2020).  I don’t know, this song is good, but I feel like it could’ve been redone perhaps?

2. Open the GATE feat. Kitadani Hiroshi

Another digital single, that came out a little over a year later than “BREAK THE CHAIN”, Open the GATE was a collaborative effort between Nami and JAM Project’s lead singer, Hiroshi Kitadani and it’s very much a different tone than what we got with the previous track as Nami sounds a lot better in just a year’s time and she sounded so energetic with Hiroshi who also shows up pretty well in the track (though he always sounds good, so I wasn’t worried).  It’s a little surprising I never reviewed this one, but it’s kind of standout gem on this album to be honest!

3. Connect the Truth

Jumping back to the first of two singles released for the album (a little strange as she had other singles without an album representation though).  With this song, it felt like Nami was returning to what made her big with the synth/rock mix and overall anison sound which I was so happy to see from Nami after she spend quite a while trying to experiment with new sounds and styles to just end up returning to her bread and butter.  I do find myself enjoying this a lot and forgot how much I enjoyed the synth melody to this one versus other songs for sure.

4. Resolve

Though I think the push for Singularity’s release is Nami’s single here (which was a digital release celebrating a new GUNDAM release).  I think it was just that fact that Nami was getting involved with GUNDAM again just set fire to the fans.  While I don’t think it has the energetic blast of her biggest hits, it would’ve made a good album track during “Make Progress” or even “Speciality”.  Though on this album, it kind of struggles to stick out for me.

5. BEYOND THE TIME ~Möbius no Sora wo Koete~

On that same single, Nami also brought back another staple she used to do and its covers!  Though this one makes sense as this was a GUNDAM song originally done by TM NETWORK back in 1988.  While I don’t think it’s vocally the hardest song for Nami to sing as she sounds pretty same-y throughout, but there’s this kind of unique vibe that makes it pop out on the album.  It could be the more serious drive of the song and punchy chorus too.  It’s a good cover, funny that she didn’t cover this back on “NT GUNDAM COVER” though.

6. Ashita no Yuuki ni Hi wa Noboru

Another digital single I didn’t hear much about and yet this came out last October, Ashita no Yuuki ni Hi wa Noboru is another song that just flies by me?  I also wasn’t interested in Nami vocals in this song and the song felt old to me.  I think it’s the horns and the way the strings play around the guitarwork that makes me think of like old 80’s anime.  I also wasn’t really a big fan of her yelling throughout the song as her vocals felt a bit flat and struggling at times.  Probably my least favorite track on the album to be honest…

7. Believe (2023 rearrange ver.)

Though I think most fans will probably download the next three tracks mostly if they’re interested in the album just for the fact that these next tracks are probably her most well-known songs in her discography.  Though god knows that Nami’s been covering Believe over and over again since her last actual album (her take from “REAL” to the version on “NT GUNDAM COVER”), it just seems a bit too much pandering going on.  The version here on Singularity is kind of more closer to the original than the previously mentioned two as the synths are alive and a bit more icy than the others.  Nami’s vocals also sounds decent and a smidge closer to the original, but for it…sounds incredibly weaker as her vocals are just not made for those notes anymore.  Her self-covers from “REAL” and “NT GUNDAM COVER” did yes dropped her down an octave, but she could handle it…here it just sounds a bit…shaky at times, very evidently shaky and hits flat HARD.  Definitely not the best self-cover unfortunately.

8. Realize (2023 rearrange ver.)

Moving to the others, after that…disappointment, I was worried that both this and “Reason” would end up on the same vibe.  Realize doesn’t get a lot of treatment and shame, this song is pretty awesome overall!  I do like the sparkly synths that filter through the song a lot and Nami sounds a bit more in control of her vocals here and it doesn’t sound like she’s overtly straining herself here.  I will say this version loses some of the power that Nami had back then, but I think this is more of a winner in my book.  I am surprised she’s trying to incorporate a slight cutesy vibe singing in the higher range and such.  Not bad of a self-cover!

9. Reason (2023 rearrange ver.)

So the digital release of the album ends with this self-cover of Reason.  I was definitely intrigued when I heard this version as the tune is a bit more guitar, but also the synthwork is different and unique which is pretty neat and the flute-like synth is neat to hear.  Nami’s vocals are decent, I feel a bit more power in her tone which felt missing in the previous two tracks.  She does have weak points (mostly in the chorus).  I want to say I enjoyed it, but I still prefer the original.

10. Reborn

Though the physical release features two more tracks, this one was her 2nd single she released for the album, last month.  This was her officially returning to SONY after her company hopping made its way back home.  I definitely felt like Nami was really channeling her past music more than she did with “Resolve” and this kind of works in amongst her other SONY hitters here.  It’s pretty funny that her voice sounds much fuller and confident in comparison to “Believe” and “Reason”.  Really good song here and surprised it’s not included in the digital release.

11. Shoot (from HIGHWAY STAR -Covers- session)

So we also get a bonus track on the album and it’s kind of an oddball song because it is the album’s lone ballad (oddly enough another cover track from the GUNDAM series).  So the song was part of a thing she did with other singers and musicians covering old songs, so this recording is from said time about 3 months ago.  Though what I will give it is that Nami’s vocals are probably at their best here ironically.  I like her deeper tones and her vibrato just sounds really nice to do for a song like this.  Interesting inclusion to the album as a bonus track though.

Tracks Recommended

• Open the GATE feat. Kitadani Hiroshi
• Reborn
• Connect the Truth
• Shoot (from HIGHWAY STAR -Covers- session)
• BEYOND THE TIME ~Möbius no Sora wo Koete~

Song of Avoidance

• Ashite no Yuuki ni Hi wa Noboru

Not counting the cover album, Nami’s last album was 2011’s “Ready” and she’s done quite a ton of hopping around between labels.  Which is sad because stuff like “LADY MIND”, “PARADISE”, “REAL”, “Vivid Telepathy”, and “Everlasting Love” get left behind.  Still that is literally 13 years without a studio album (10 if you include “NT GUNDAM COVER”).  What’s more problematic is that this album is Nami right back to where she started from heading back to SONY releases after this it seems after “Reborn” dropped.  As for the album, Singularity, what was its purpose exactly?  All of these songs except for the self-covers were all digital releases, two of them physical releases (Connect the Truth and Reborn) and one song you can find on YouTube?  This kind of just felt thrown together with a small pieces Nami has been throwing out at us since 2020.  Hell, I’m surprised “Kakeru New Sky” wasn’t on this considering it got a PV for it…  Just saying, this felt a bit lazily put together, but if this means Nami is active in music again, I hope the next release has a bit more put behind it than more or less a best album.

(10th Anniversary) Nami Tamaki – Speciality March 5, 2024

Track Listing

1. Speciality -Inst.-
2. Result
3. IDentity
4. New World
5. Sunrize
6. CASTAWAY
7. No Way Back
8. Sanctuary
9. Get Wild
10. Reach For The Rainbow
11. MY WAY
12. Ready Steady Go!

1. Speciality -Inst.-

The beginning of the album starts up with this really cool interlude/introduction.  It firsts starts up very beautiful and majestic sounding, but then goes into a futuristic state and drastically speeds up and gets trance-y.  Now Nami has two really good interludes under her belt!

Yeah, Nami’s 3rd album actually opens with an introductory piece (something she hasn’t done yet in her career).  I do like the piano introduction and full band orchestra that kind of gave me some kind of Disney-like vibes before cutting out and restarts as an electro-track with a countdown.  Once the dance beats kick in, I find myself intrigued by the arrangement and wished it kind of was a full track.  Though I don’t know if it works well with transitioning into the next track.

2. Result

What is it with Gundam songs and track number 2? I mean Greeting had “Believe” and Make Progress had “Reason”.  Unlike the other two though, this is very guitar driven and supported by the synths.  Song is very fast and lyrically too.  As usual though, the dance songs  have the best bridges. Oh, did anyone else think Result sounded like Ayumi Hamasaki’s “Unite!”?  Yea, strange at the least, but this is a good song nonetheless!

Nami usually doesn’t falter with her GUNDAM themes and Result is another smacker!  Result though is more like “Believe” and “Reason” in where she takes the song in a darker route, but this time includes more grittier guitarwork like from “Heroine”.  Released as the 3rd single from the album, Result is still one of the better songs off the album here, a little more punchy and edgy wrapped together.  I still do think that the verses remind me a LOT of Ayumi’s “UNITE!”, but that kind of controversy is here nor there.  Still a good string of GUNDAM songs for sure!

3. IDentity

Starting immediatly at the chorus, this song reeks of awesomeness.  The guitar solo is great after the chorus ends.  I also love how in the verses she starts it off with an English word like *Pride*, *But*, and *Place*. Totally great song, if I remember correctly this was also used in Gundam…if not I’ll change this.  Either way, great song

Onto new tracks, IDentity seems to pull off a similar drive like many of her songs off her previous two albums, so this maybe come as a shock nowadays that I kind of have to be in the mood for this one.  There’s just a similar vein of like guitarwork and synths combined and it’s hard to not feel a little same-y with a song like this.  Granted, Nami’s great at these kind of energetic anison songs that I can’t fault too heavily here.  I do enjoy it sometimes and on the album being the first to kind of bring us back to that sound isn’t the worst.

4. New World

Ok, New World sounds like it’d be really good, the beginning caught my attention, but once it got into the verses, it was just unusual.  Then the bridge caught my attention again…So, to me it’s an unusual, yet it has a feeling like your are looking in this “New World”. hah! Sounds like something she’d do in Make Progress

Next new song up is New World and of the new tracks, I actually tend to forget this one a lot!  All of the other songs I can hum the melody to, but New World is the one that leaves my psyche pretty quickly.  I remember that when I was listening through the singles from this album, a lot of the B-sides felt very same-y and lacked a lot of originality about them and New World kind of just an album version of that lack of excitement.  Especially coming after “IDentity”, this feels toned down and lost the energy that the previous track had.  Would’ve rather had “Stay Gold” instead!

5. Sunrize

I really like this song alot.  High note alert!. Oh, but she hits it everytime, so no worries.  Surprised it was kicked from being a single in itself, because it was grouped with “MY WAY” which sucks.  This song was way better in the first place.  So, this song is fast and has fast guitars and synths, which is pretty cool.  Everytime I think of this song i think of “Daybreak” from Make Progress. I have no idea why, but they both sort of have to do with the sun.

Of Nami’s A-sides, Sunrize comes off as the oddball of them all mostly because it’s an A-side that wasn’t promoted very well, it never even got a PV surprisingly.  Now on this album, yeah it feels a little a bit of a mix between “New World” and “Daybreak” with the faster tempo and a little more of a guitar-riff, but kind of having that same-y dancepop/anison drive about it.  Granted, I’m not sure why SONY made this an A-side when they didn’t promote it much.  Hearing it, I think it might make sense because it once again, sounded like many of the songs she’s released through the era (especially to the B-sides).

6. CASTAWAY

What a weird song. It starts off as a ballad then switches to dance, then back to ballad, straight back to dance for the rest of the song.  Nami, choose the genre!.  Anyways, I like both sides of the song alot, showcasing her speeds of vocal ability and sound.  The vocalless parts are really nice too, it sucks that the only thing that bothered me were those background voices, it annoyed me.  The b-side of “Get Wild” also had CASTAWAY, which the main difference was the backgrounds WERE NOT there.  Which i prefer more than the Album version.

Next song up should’ve been bolded, but even when I first started, I was able to tell that there were major differences between the album version and the B-side version from “Get Wild”.  There was obviously some edits made mostly in adding layers to the vocals and some arrangement shifts.  As for the song itself, I didn’t know if I liked the back and forth between ballad verses and electro/anison pop in the choruses.  I think the album version dulled the original out so I wasn’t the biggest fan of this, plus I don’t think the Jeckyl / Hyde style works here in this version either.

7. No Way Back

As it is one of Nami’s favorite songs.  I can see why it is, because she’s showin off attitude, which we’ve seen a little bit of.  Very fast singing. I love the beats going on everywhere in the song, especially when Nami sings a part and a more angrier, yet subdued side sings another part.  There’s glass breaking and crowd cheers in the background making this song the best from this album.

I’m definitely happy to see Nami stray away a little bit from the anison-styled songs with No Way Back next.  I’m liking the throwback to something like Britney Spears’ more aggressive songs (from her 2nd/3rd album).  Though I’m also noticing that this might be the only time I hear Nami’s vocals add a lot of grit and attitude which I loved immediately as it was something new for the album.  Just adds a lot of punch to the song and this feels like one of the last songs she made for the album to be honest.

8. Sanctuary

As the final single, from this era, it was the most surprising and very ethereal for her, I mean it isn’t Utada but still very cool.  Strings and guitar leads for most of the song.  Synths are mostly prominent during the chorus.  Most know it from the anime “Kiba” which is a good thing. She’s promoting to more animes!

As the last single released before the album dropped, Sanctuary to me is like what “Fortune” was to “Make Progress”, anison, but there’s something different to it that makes it stand out from the other singles the came out for the album.  I mean looking at it now, Sanctuary is a LOT like the B-sides of the era for sure, but this had a bit more effort behind it because the chorus is powerful and just has a lot of gusto about it.  Surprisingly good here!

9. Get Wild

A remake from TM NETWORK, this song actually beats out the original, she’s definitly showing off her vocal ability as she hitting notes quite high. *Get Wild and Tough* this is heard a bit throughout the song. The synths arent annoying and there’s some E. Guitar here and there.  Pretty cool with the chorus when she starts it slow, then repeats it, but faster than before, this would be my favorite Single. Though after listening to it, your left thinking it’s too short.

Of course, Nami would kick off the era with a cover (kind of like what she did on her last album).  This being a cover of a classic TM NETWORK song, Get Wild has seen its share of covers, but I really like Nami’s for some reason.  It’s a lot quicker than the original, I feel like, but the synthwork and Nami’s vocals really what make the song work for me.  One of the great songs off the album and honestly one of her best covers too!

10. Reach For The Rainbow

Now this song has a pretty catchy beat.  The bridge is one im not to fond of because it reminds me of “Distance”. Anyway, the verses are really cool and Nami sure knows how to get a good voice through them.  I would call this song the anthem song of the album. All together though, it’s a pretty good track

As we’re nearing the end of the album, Reach For The Rainbow comes next and it’s kind of an oddball song since it feels like an ending track for the album being a bit more mid-tempo, but still in the dance track-esque range of all things.  I think with the time in between this review and the original review I did for the album, Reach For The Rainbow is one of the songs that fell off for me.  I do really like the pre-chorus a LOT more than I actually enjoyed the actual chorus.  It just sounds a bit corny and preach-y almost for some reason.  Also not sure what was with the bridge being kind of like an odd guitar solo covered up by the dance beats.  I guess I understand where the “Distance” reference came from, but also a little of “DreamerS” as well.

11. MY WAY

Ok, so “Daitan ni Ikimashou” was an anthem-pop song, well MY WAY follows suit, as if that hurts, it wasn’t really good.  Her voice is straining through the chorus and as if that was bad enough, I saw the PV for this song, which made me cry a bit.  No one should see it.  Even the choreography was uhm, very distasteful.  The only good thing bout this song is the verses, I really like that part, alot.  Anyways thank gosh for a remake!

Wow, I was pretty harsh on MY WAY when this album came out (this was right around the time I joined the J-pop fandom and was broadening my listening was when Specialty came out).  MY WAY still might be my least favorite SONY release, but it’s not the worst single she’s done (that would be throughout her UNIVERSAL-J releases to be honest).  MY WAY is definitely a cheer song with a lot of that peppy upbeat sunny sound mixed in with Nami’s more anison style.  It’s cute and I really like the verses/prechoruses a lot, it’s just that the chorus is quite a lot xD.  Crosses that line between fun and cheesy to be honest lol.

12. Ready Steady Go!

Ok, Nami’s rock song to end the album, yea this is definitly not her best rock song to date, I mean “High School Queen” was better, she’s yelling through the verses and bridge.  Though you gotta give it to her, she’s really giving her all through this song!  Her voice to me sounds oddly different against her other songs, so thats why it took my a few listens to actually get into this song, but in the end it’s a catchy tune.

As it says above, yeah Nami ends the album off with a kind of punk-rock kind of track with Ready Steady Go! and boy does it seem strange to close the album with a song like this.  I mean I wasn’t expecting a track like this to show up on the album since we’ve been dealing with synths and synths/guitar anison tracks, so Ready Steady Go! was a bit of a surprise.  I thought she’d bring more attitude like she did in “No Way Back” but it just seems Nami is yelling the song all the way through and it might cause a few ear bleeds here and there.  Odd way to close things out, but I suppose it’s different…..oh and there’s no ~reproduction~ remix on the album, huh.

Tracks Recommended

• Sanctuary
• Get Wild
• Result
• No Way Back
• IDentity

Song of Avoidance

• New World

So….no ballad and no remix?  Speciality wasn’t as good as previous album and oddly enough usually the album tracks are way beyond the singles, this time around, they were equal.  Still the lack of a true ballad, CASTAWAY doesn’t count and no ending remix, kind of makes this album the black sheep of her albums since it wasn’t consistent.

When it came to Nami’s 3rd outing, Speciality nowadays is kind of when I start to see the cracks and more of the dullness that came to Nami’s sound especially after the B-sides kind of felt all cut from the same cloth to me.  Not to say this album was terrible, there were some pretty good tracks here and some personality striking up here and there.  A little surprised to see no ballad nor Reproduction remix here as that was the pattern I felt she was striving for.  Decent album, might be my least favorite of the 4 SONY albums she put out though.