Kylee – Daisuki na no ni February 13, 2013

Track Listing

1. Daisuki na no ni
2. Anywhere
3. Daisuki na no ni [Anime Edit] (Limited only)
4. Daisuki na no ni [Less Vocal]

1. Daisuki na no ni

I have to say that it’s nice that Kylee has learned to stop yelling her songs and use a more powerful tone for the songs since “17″.  Daisuki na no ni is her most anime-ish sounding song yet since it features piano and some of the anison/guitar melodies.  I have to say this song was quite impressive to listen to, if not a smidge repetitive towards the end.  I still was enjoying every minute of this!

2. Anywhere

Moving onto the other track on the single, Anywhere, brings back our Kylee in her native tongue of English and this kind of has the old sound she used to have before she became a major label artist.  It’s also kind of synthy as well which gives a new twist to her sound.  Good song overall and she definitely has such good pipes going!

Kylee is definitely showing progress in her singing and with Daisuki na no ni, she’s kind of now trying some new ideas and for the most part it works quite nicely.  The leading track might be anison-heavy, but she at least backed it up with her tone.  Anywhere is a great English tune and kind of tongue-in-cheek in the lyrical sense which is something I like about her English songs (at least in my opinion).

Kylee – Mirai June 24, 2012

Track Listing

1. Mirai
2. FEEL
3. Mirai ~Signal ver.~ (Limited only)
4. Mirai [Less Vocal]

1. Mirai

I was worried that she would’ve been dropped right after “17″ and all that, but I was ecstatic she didn’t and released Mirai.  Unlike her previous singles, this song is a lot slower and kind of has this American Pop feel to it but somewhat refreshing to hear from Kylee.  I will say she does once again finds herself back to her ways of over singing the tune.  I mean she’s belting the chorus and it’s kind of bothersome.  It’s almost like “Everlasting” in those regards.  It’s a pleasant song beyond the chorus and it’s nice that she sung a ballad.

2. FEEL

I was surprised she announced this song first (as a digital single, mind you) and somehow got a PV as well!  When I first heard the track, I immediately thought it was a MiChi song and not a Kylee song because the arrangement sounds so similar to stuff like MiChi’s first three A-sides.  It’s upbeat, lively and Kylee doesn’t strain herself here as much as in “Mirai”.  The better track!

 

 

I’m happy she’s still releasing after “17″ and she put out a good single to start a new era of releases.  Mirai is a nice ballad and all but like most of the other ballads, she seems to wanna belt the song rather than keep it soft and it bothers me…she needs to work on that hahah.  FEEL on the other hand is a lot better and suits her more than I think ballads do.  I hope her next release will be heavier with the rock side of her music TBH.

Kylee – 17 November 27, 2011

Track Listing

1. IT’S YOU
2. CRAZY FOR YOU
3. NEVER GIVE UP!
4. BRAND NEW WAVE feat. Orianthi
5. Give me a chance to say
6. MUSIC
7. Kimi ga Iru Kara
8. ONE STEP
9. missing
10. UNNOTICED
11. Everlasting
12. Yours Truly

1. IT’S YOU

Fitting that she’d begin her album with the secondary A-side of her second single of the era.  IT’S YOU left a good impression on me because it was rather cute and upbeat.  It’s also catchy to my ears and doesn’t have a lot of a rock feel like most of the other tunes on the album.  Compared to the other songs though, this has a pretty soft arrangement for me but it’s a nice tune.

2. CRAZY FOR YOU

The 5th A-side comes next and it’s kind of giant switch from sweet and poppy to something that’s a little more serious and stronger in its arrangement.  It stood out to me the most simply because of amount of piano included and it fits nicely amongst the guitars and drums.  I still pretty much love the song so it’s great hearing it early on in the album!

3. NEVER GIVE UP!

The A-side before “CRAZY FOR YOU” comes up next and while I’m not entirely sure about if I still enjoy it since Kylee kind of has a weird tone to her voice which is like nearing belting the song out which I’m sure wasn’t the point of the song.  It kind of rides like the previous track, but I prefer the last track because it was clearly handled better.

4. BRAND NEW WAVE feat. Orianthi

The first new song is actually the promotional track for the album and features guitarist Orianthi (who I only knew because of her big hit “According To You”).  It’s kind of fun to listen to and Orianthi’s solos are pretty awesome.  Yeah this is the Kylee I want to hear more of since she has a lot of attitude here and I love that!  Great choice to promote the album.

5. Give me a chance to say

Why does this remind me of something Kelly Clarkson would’ve pulled in the past?  Give me a chance to say is kind of the powerful kind of pop/rock song that would catch my attention and it did that very well here.  I will say that Kylee’s not so interested singing in the verses do bring it down but the rest of the song is a winner!  It might be my favorite of the new songs.

6. MUSIC

Kind of like “Give me a chance to say”, I seriously get Kelly Clarkson vibes out of this song for some reason XD.  I will say that MUSIC does stick out in my mind as well since it also has a good powerful arrangement and Kylee’s loud vocals fit here as well.  Pretty solid of a song I say!

7. Kimi ga Iru Kara

Yeah, we get into the debut major A-side from Kylee and I still think it’s quite sour of a song for me.  Her voice seemed way too much in this song and she didn’t exactly have a great tone.  It also kind of just doesn’t fit on this album because of the essential fact that it’s an R&B track.  Of course there are guitars present in the chorus but that’s just it.  I’m just not feeling this track at all.

8. ONE STEP

At least that’s the only odd song off the album and we get back into what Kylee excels the most at and that’s good ole pop/rock tunes.  I like how there’s backup vocals for her in this song since it makes the song pop out more and I’ve started to notice that she’s singing SO much better than what she used to and I’m loving the growth she’s getting. 

9. missing

Of the A-side released in the era, I totally forgot how missing sounds like which is weird considering that it was the primary A-side of the second single.  I probably shouldn’t have because I’m loving the energy of this song and I’m getting “VACANCY” vibes from this song which is great!  While I haven’t mentioned it in other songs, I’m enjoying Kylee’s mixture of English and Japanese in the songs…it just sounds great. 

10. UNNOTICED

Ok, I might be double-crossing myself, but I really enjoyed UNNOTICED for it’s quirky guitar riffs and awesome Kylee-ness.  I’ve noticed (no pun intended) that this song is actually in all English and I found myself having fun with this one.  I don’t know why but it just caught me off guard in a good way.  I think it might be the BEST song on the album if it wasn’t for our next track.

11. Everlasting

Then again I’m sometimes biased when it comes to songs that are affiliated with the GUNDAM series so maybe that’s why I love Everlasting like I do.  When the album was first announced it seemed like there was going to be a new version of this song…but it was ditched and we got the original.  I still love the whole ~I feel you by my siiiiiide~ intro of the song and while it has it’s own sound, I’m all for it since it’s the closest to a ballad we got (well cept for the next song).  It’s a pretty epic song for Kylee and I was happy that it was on this album!

12. Yours Truly

As the ending of the album goes, Yours Truly quite works here since it was more of an acoustic ballad.  At first I didn’t really get the song since it’s also another English-only song but to me, Kylee doesn’t seem to really fit with a song like this because she’s got some problems holding notes together and the such.  Though I’m curious to as who this ~John~ is…personal prolly. 

Tracks Recommended

• Everlasting
• UNNOTICED
• missing
• Give me a chance to say
• CRAZY FOR YOU

Song of Avoidance

• Kimi ga Iru Kara

During the earlier times of the era, I was worried that Kylee was going to fail because of her way too powerful vocals.  Luckily the producers used that for their advantage for 17′s new tracks and it worked quite nicely!  There were a few spills but Kylee’s album debut was pretty awesome for the most part!

Kylee – CRAZY FOR YOU October 9, 2011

Track Listing

1. CRAZY FOR YOU
2. Kako wo Wasureru Mahou
3. CRAZY FOR YOU [Less Vocal]

1. CRAZY FOR YOU

I wasn’t sure what we were going to get for CRAZY FOR YOU but it’s funny because the piano + rock sound reminds me of her debut A-side, “VACANCY” which is a good song but this one is a bit more brighter.  I will say that she doesn’t bother me much in the vocals department as she has been since her Japanese debut.  Is she starting to learn that yelling your songs isn’t gonna get fans???  I hope so!  It’s definitely an impressive song and while I do love “Everlasting” a bit more, this is pretty close…second best A-side for sure!

2. Kako wo Wasureru Mahou

~Let me…call you back!!!~ That was a funny line to kick a song off.  Kako wo Wasureru Mahou to me carries the fun and energy that most of her B-sides have been carrying and I enjoyed this one as well since once again her vocals don’t kill me and she actually sounds like she’s being an awesome rocker chick and I approve of this. 

 

 

Finally a single that I don’t cringe to in ways!  Since this is her 5th and final single released for the “17″ era, I must say she did something right for CRAZY FOR YOU.  Fact is, is that she didn’t belt out the songs this time around and it came out almost just as epic and cool like “VACANCY” did back then.  Even Kako wo Wasureru Mahou was good even though I think she’s done better with B-sides during her major label career than her A-side but that’s just my opinion here lol.

Kylee – NEVER GIVE UP! July 23, 2011

Track Listing

1. NEVER GIVE UP!
2. My Best Friend
3. NEVER GIVE UP! [Less Vocal]

1. NEVER GIVE UP!

Kylee in recent times has been opting for a more positive outlook for her music and sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t.  It’s really because of her singing and in this song it’s still pretty harsh and does feel like she’s yelling the lyrics which is a no-no in singing.  I do enjoy the arrangement quite a bit and does act like a fun summer song, but damn she needs to tone her vocals down a couple notches.

2. My Best Friend

I’m surprised that the B-side is also a summer song but unlike the previous track, this one feels a lot more stronger and the synths have more prominence as well.  She still does sound kind of harsh against the music but the fact that it’s catchy and a lot of it is in English makes me happy. 

 

 

Kylee’s 4th single and I still think she hasn’t really worked on powering down on the vocal chops.  She does have a powerful voice, no doubt, but there’s songs that she has down where it just wasn’t needed like in the case of NEVER GIVE UP!.  If she didn’t yell, I’m sure the song would’ve struck me a lot better.  My Best Friend is slightly better, but only because of the arrangement.  Is it album time?

Kylee – Everlasting October 25, 2010

Track Listing

1. Everlasting
2. Luckiest Girl in the World
3. IT’S YOU (STUDIO APARTMENT Remix)
4. Everlasting (MOVIE Version)
5. Everlasting (Less Vocal)

1. Everlasting

Who knew Kylee would actually get a GUNDAM tie-in for her career.  I actually think of recent, Everlasting is sounding like something that would fit into the series since it’s like a rockish/ballad from Kylee.  Now I haven’t really said this, but Kylee is really pushing her limits in her career since she’s basically yelling her lungs out through the chorus of this song and it kind of is a little bit of a turn-off.  Besides that, it’s not bad and it can be somewhat strong if it wasn’t for Kylee’s brash yelling.

2. Luckiest Girl in the World

Being a pretty short tune under 3 minutes, Luckiest Girl in the World of course is the English tune of the single and for me this was actually kind of catchy and simple for her since Kylee isn’t yelling her heart out.  For me this is definitely one of those songs that make you think she pulled this out of a High School Musical movie.  It’s kind of that cheesy, but still has charm and I like it.

3. IT’S YOU (STUDIO APARTMENT Remix)

Hey for the first time we get a remix of a song (in this case one of her A-sides off her last single).  Right from the start, SA really took the song in a different route than their usual sound simply because IT’S YOU is a rock song so they couldn’t fully make those synth changes.  So they built upon the song by throwing in deeper synths and yet keeping this rockish flow going.  It’s a bit messy and some of Kylee’s melody with the musical arrangement doesn’t mesh, but it’s not so bad.

I admit I do like “missing/IT’S YOU” more still.  There’s just something missing from each of the three songs on the single here.  For Everlasting, I think it was the yelling that wasn’t well appreciated and I want a softer sung version IMHO.  Luckiest Girl in the World might’ve been too simple for her, but it’s the best off the single so that is good.  The remix was a little jarring, but it’s a remix of a rock song…you can’t really pull that off 90% of the time anyways…

Kylee – missing/IT’S YOU July 9, 2010

Track Listing

1. missing
2. IT’S YOU
3. Just Go
4. missing (Instrumental)
5. IT’S YOU (Instrumental)

1. missing

After “Kimi ga Iru Kara” I was expecting that her music would’ve been fixed up for her next single and I was happily surprised that she did with the first A-side on the single.  It does kind of remind me of a cooler “VACANCY”.  I don’t think there was anything wrong with this song and her mix of her native English language and her Japanese is getting better as well.  Enjoyable song.

2. IT’S YOU

It’s been a while since we’ve got a fun song from Kylee and with IT’S YOU we definitely have our fun pop/rock song from her and I loved it a lot, just as much as I did with “missing”.  The PV though had so many colors going for it too, so that’s another reason I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Maybe it’s her quirkyness that’s got to me. 

3. Just Go

As the only B-side, it’s also the only song that’s fully in English.  Just Go is definitely the “You Get Me” track even though the lyrics are kind of like darker and the opposite of said song, but the song has a rather dance-ish feel to it and I’ve liked that in her songs when she utilizes that to her lyrics and it worked. 

 

 

I knew that “Kimi ga Iru Kara” was going to be her stepping stone single and she took that and tested out stuff and she perfected them onto her 2nd major label single.  missing is of course the more emotionally sung one while IT’S YOU was the more free-spirited and fun song.  I also enjoyed Just Go and it’s pretty mean lyrics hahaha.  Let’s hope the era continues to be more exciting.

Kylee – Kimi ga Iru Kara March 30, 2010

Track Listing

1. Kimi ga Iru Kara
2. On My Own
3. She Wishes
4. Kimi ga Iru Kara (Less Vocal)

1. Kimi ga Iru Kara

I didn’t expect Kylee to have moved into the major labels, but to be honest her first song in Japanese is pretty bad…especially when compared to her previous songs released.  I’m not sure but her vocals seem more rougher and hoarse than in “You Get Me”.  Then again, the song itself is a little more mid-tempo and more like R&B than anything else, I was kind of disappointed.  Her Japanese BTW, isn’t totally bad, but she’s got a while to go before she makes it believable.

2. On My Own

The B-sides however go back to the English-speaking Kylee and with On My Own returns to the more familiar sound we’ve grown to enjoy from her and it definitely makes up for the awkward A-side.  I like the rock arrangement and the added strings do help out as well giving it a nice touch.  I think her vocals are getting a little more deeper compared to her last releases which is a plus.  She should stick with this sound.

3. She Wishes

She Wishes is the slowest song off the single and arrangement-wise it’s a bit like a power ballad.  Lyrically it’s a bit cheesy after all and the chorus really cakes that thought in my head because it really does come off as a Miley Cyrus-type kind of song which isn’t that good, but I like the power she put into the chrous and getting through it.  She isn’t vocally strong here either, but it’s passable.

 

 

Wow, who knew Kylee would end up joining SONY, specifically DefSTAR.  While SONY is slowly giving Kylee the HIMEKA treatment, she kind of slipped for her debut with them.  Kimi ga Iru Kara was just asking too much too soon from her.  The B-sides were clearly better and more in her zone when she was in her indies era.  It could just be major debut issues, but I hope she cleans up after this single.

Kylee – Kylee meets Bounen no Zamned August 7, 2009

Track Listing

1. VACANCY
2. Just Breathe
3. Over U
4. VACANCY (TV SIZE)
5. Just Breathe (TV SIZE)
6. Over U (TV SIZE)

1. VACANCY

Are you really saying VACANCY should start off the single?  I guess being her first A-side in her career, it was more fitting to have a pretty strong track to kick things off.  There’s just something about the lyrics of the song that seems pretty striking and Kylee’s singing is really good for someone that’s pretty young.  ~I have this vacancy in my heart~ I mean who knew you could say it that way…still great debut track.

2. Just Breathe

Luckily, the rest of the tracks are brand spanking new on this single, well (sort of).  Just Breathe was previously released as a digital single and I thought from the opening it was going to be a ballad, but I was highly wrong.  Her vocals actually sound more together and sounding a lot more emotionally driven and I love it alot.  The chorus is pretty nifty as she hits these high notes in a smooth way and could be another favorite of mine.

3. Over U

I wanna know who’s composed this track immediatly.  Over U has a darker tone than the previous tracks and damn, she’s pissed off in this song and I continued to be amazed on how she works through these tracks.  It’s funny that I consider this to be the anti-thesis to “You Get Me”, it’s like the total opposite and just as strong vocally and musically.  The hard punch and the soft parts just meshed well and her repeating ~I’m so over it, I’m so over u~ it just sticks out.  GREAT!

 

 

I keep getting more impressed by Kylee and her second single just shows the future powerhouse she can become.  I still wonder whe she’ll crossover into Japanese and see how her vocals could really do under a different language.  Right now though, she’s got spunk and sass and it’s great to see someone today have something like that.  Here’s me waiting for an album. *RECOMMENDED*

Kylee – Love Kicks… March 17, 2009

Track Listing

1. S.A.U.
2. You Get Me
3. THAT ONE
4. Not For You
5. Empty Handed
6. Wherever You Are Tonight

1. S.A.U.

S.A.U. means Something About U.  Right from the start you hear how punk she is and I really love her voice.  She’s got a powerful voice for someone at a young age especially with how hectic with everything is going.  The use of synths also seem to be a pretty cool addition.  What a powerful start for Kylee.

2. You Get Me

OMG, I’m am loving this song so damn much.  Not only is the song is the main promotional track, it’s the first track I ever heard from her.  It’s a love song, but put into a teenager’s vision because the whole basis is that even though I’m weird as hell, you’ll still love in the end.  The PV was even cool and she’s really does make herself look so cute (jailbait moment). 

3. THAT ONE

THAT ONE starts off with some pretty cool synths and then it becomes this hard rock tune which does surprise, even though “VACANCY” was hard to.  I really like how she tackled the whole I’m looking for you and I really wanna find my guy.  It’s quite different and it’s also a pretty interesting track nonetheless. 

4. Not For You

Our next track is actually a pretty calm track compared to the others and it’s quite a pretty sad track, even with the dramatic piano crash during the 2nd verse.  I love her pain and anguish in this song and honestly it’s the best track off the mini.  It even beats out “You Get Me” now that’s something!

5. Empty Handed

Scratch that as the last one being the calmest, Empty Handed is just an acoustic-only track which is a nice change from the rock side.  I kind of like the whole breakup feel and she’s wondering how things happened, but in the end she’s left enpty-handed.  I actually thought this song was a bit empty and maybe typical.  I really like her vocals though.

6. Wherever You Are Tonight

Things seem to slip further when our next track pops up.  I’m also finding myself being bored with the track even though I really like the music to it.  It’s a little punkish, but also pretty alternative at the same time.  I’m also in love with the guitar solo as well.  Maybe it isn’t as bad as I initially thought, but the other tracks are better in my opinion.

 

 

Kylee’s first mini-album was surprisingly good.  Only one of the tracks really bored me, but the rest really showcased Kylee as a whole and I really see that she might make it big someday when she’s older.  Her voice is just so good for someone her age, I swear it’s good.  Wait til she’s in her 20′s and she’ll be at Hitomi S.’s level