Track Listing
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FUTURE KISS
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wana
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Revive
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Watashi no, Shiranai, Watashi. ~precious ver.~
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SUMMER TIME GONE
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I scream!
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Drive me crazy
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I can do it now
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Beautiful ~comfortable ver.~
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I promise
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sound of rain
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Tomorrow is the last Time
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anywhere
Special CD Tracklist
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boyfriend
1. FUTURE KISS
Of course being faithful to the way she releases things, Mai-K kicks off the album with the title track and I’ve always been found of her title tracks for sure. FUTURE KISS doesn’t break the count at all since it’s a good synthy song from her and while it does bring Mai-K forward in her music with her vocals under auto-tune and such, it isn’t much of a bother and it sounds good. Let’s be honest some of the song sounds like Tetsuya Komuro’s deal, but it isn’t luckily. I did like it was upbeat, but still it’s so very different for her!
2. wana
I’m very surprised that she included some of the B-sides on to the album since most of the time she only lets on one at the most. wana (from the second single of the era “Beautiful”) continues this rather interesting synthy R&B style that Mai-K has been dabbling as of recent. I like the song no doubt, but nowadays for me it comes as too short for pleasure and it’s a major problem of the song, but it’s still pretty good nonetheless.
3. Revive
I’m surprised that Revive also made the tracklist seeing as it’s the secondary A-side and “PUZZLE” nowhere in sight. Revive and most of the A-sides of the era have all been so off the wall and in a entirely different genre. I loved Revive’s latin flow and Mai’s smooth vocals swerving in and out through the chorus with the magic of the music going on in the background. Something that has grown since it’s release back in early 2009.
4. Watashi no, Shiranai, Watashi. ~precious ver.~
Remember this song from her sort of best-of album “ALL MY BEST”? Yeah, well I barely did and was surprised she’d include a new version of the only song featured on the collection. Now the new version feels very different than I remembered but not much, but there’s some arrangement differences and some extra vocals added with the whole ~precious~ reasoning. I think of all the songs released before this album, this was the weakest and it kind of still is since it’s just like any of her previous songs from older eras.
5. SUMMER TIME GONE
When will we get into new songs eh? Either way, SUMMER TIME GONE is probably the necessary summer song she needed and in a way it worked since it’s pretty catchy and of course is still pretty much synthy which is cool by me. Mai’s slightly under some auto-tune (but not at the level of “FUTURE KISS”). I think the chorus is definitely the best thing from the song and while it does have the finality to summer down pat, it ended up better than before.
6. I scream!
Finally getting out of the previously released stuff and into some new songs, I scream! surprised me because it follows after “FUTURE KISS” with it’s heavier dance-y style that I’ve been getting a lot from this album and it made me happy that this song ended up quite catchy and vocally together. I mean given, she still doesn’t have the right vocals since this kind of demands powerful sounds and Mai’s vocals come off as soft…though the verses were done right by being sexual and slick. Pretty cool track.
7. Drive me crazy
I’m happy she left off that kind of confusing A-side in “Eien Yori Nagaku” on the single and instead went for the secondary A-side and I definitely felt the rush with this song. Basically it makes “I scream!” look amateurish and ended up being pretty much better and vocally fitting for her. I even loved the deeper synths and danceish feel it gives off a lot. This was basically when I started to really enjoy Mai-K again fully.
8. I can do it now
I’m surprised that I can do it now was as upbeat as it is since it kind of just doesn’t stop for a minute. Though I’m more shocked at the fact that it’s so short (only a little over 3 minutes). It also sounds like it’s kind of underproduced and a little iffy in places (mainly that piano solo thrown in randomly). I don’t know but this for me was the replacement for “Eien Yori Nagaku” but done worse.
9. Beautiful ~comfortable ver.~
Being the 3rd A-side of the era, Beautiful was the other track that got modified for the album and to be honest, it’s a much pure sounding version than the original. I mean in all respect, the song kind of threw out the R&B and we ended up with a more natural and orchestrated version and I couldn’t have wanted more of an upgrade than this. That being said, I definitely agree to this and enjoyed this a whole lot.
10. I promise
I’ve finally feel the change actually starting with this song and while this is the style of Mai-K I’m not totally fond of, I promise kind of reminds me of her more memorable A-sides in the past and while it doesn’t stand out on this album, I’m sure if it was a single, I’d remember this a whole lot more than I am right now.
11. sound of rain
sound of rain takes it even more slowly and more innocently with just Mai-K opening up with acoustic guitar and piano and I actually didn’t think she’d sound as good as she did in the start, but her whispy vocals mixed in with the two instruments was quite nice to be honest. I did get a little disappointed when the beat came in after the chorus, but it’s still a good tune and shows that she isn’t bland at all.
12. Tomorrow is the last Time
Being the song that was used to promote the album, Tomorrow is the last Time is actually something I didn’t like and still kind of dislike it because it was just so boring and nothing about it stands out cept the interesting echoey interlude, but otherwise I was unimpressed with the song and just kind of is plain Mai fodder.
13. anywhere
The placing of anywhere just kind of weirds me out as I’ve never seen the song as a kind of ending. Since it comes from the “SUMMER TIME GONE” single, I was pretty shocked to see it even appearing, even moreso is the only song that has a pop/rock sound that slightly parallels “Ichibyou Goto ni Love for you”. It’s alright and I guess after listening to it again, there is a slight final track feel to it, but it’s still rather the strange song since it’s pop/rock and not R&B or a ballad.
Special CD
1. boyfriend
Since this was basically the reasoning of the album being pushed back almost a month, the album comes with another CD with just one song (talk about wasting money not filling it up with other songs), boyfriend isn’t exactly new since we’ve known of this song for quite a while. Also, it’s another Mai-K x Michael Africk collaboration and it’s been way long since we’ve heard them together “NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP” anyone? You know since the only place to really hear it was live and the studio version has a lot of auto-tune and it kind of bothers me. Mike’s vocals aren’t at all bad, but the only thing that bothers me is his pronunciation with ~boyfeeeriend~ UGH. Still the song is interesting nonetheless and has a good beat to it
Tracks Recommended
Song of Avoidance
Wow, third album from Mai-K under NORTHERN MUSIC and she nails it very well. FUTURE KISS definitely is her best album she’s had, but that’s not saying much since she’s improving her albums since “ONE LIFE” and this album is right now the peak of em. I did like for the most part that the album was split between the edgier songs and the slow stuff and it seems she made the dance songs her priority since none of them were bad. The slow songs were pretty good give or take one or two, but still passable and the extra disc is so not worth it. If she had added something like “chance for you ~theater ver.~”, it’d be different. Still what a great album release this was ^_^
