ANGERME – Watashi wo Tsukeru no wa Watashi/Zenzen Okiagarenai SUNDAY November 20, 2019

Track Listing

1. Watashi wo Tsukeru no wa Watashi
2. Zenzen Okiagarenai SUNDAY
3. Totteoki no Oshare wo Shite (Regular A only)
4. Myouban, Galaxy Gekijou de (Regular B only)
5. Watashi wo Tsukeru no wa Watashi (Instrumental)
6. Zenzen Okiagarenai SUNDAY (Instrumental)
7. Totteoki no Oshare wo Shite (Instrumental)
8. Myouban, Galaxy Gekijou de (Instrumental)

1. Watashi wo Tsukeru no wa Watashi

As the leading A-side, Watashi wo Tsukeru no wa Watashi is pretty much both a debut and graduating A-side.  On the first hand, it’s Rin Hashisako’s debut with the group while on the other half, it’s Kana Nakanishi last single with the group.  I do have to say, the song itself is kind of in the same veins like “Umaku Ienai” but a little less rockin’.  I mean I would say all of the girls get a decent solo, but some like Rikako, Murotan, Takechan, Kamiko, Funakki, and Kassa seemed to have a bigger role.  Rin did some chorus stuff and Kana had a solo in the verse.  Everyone else though had a random line throughout.  It’s a decent song, but definitely safe-sounding to me.

2. Zenzen Okiagarenai SUNDAY

The other A-side is curiously enough a Tsunku creation, but I was not expecting a ballad from them.  It’s kind of an eerie song though and slightly depressing in ways.  Though it seemed like everyone but Haruka and Rin got solos in the song it feels like.  It’s a bit dark and I quite like the song for that that’s for sure.  Something unique to ANGERME unlike “Watashi wo Tsukeru no wa Watashi”.  Impressive song for an A-side!

3. Totteoki no Oshare wo Shite

So I have to back up a little bit for this one.  Might be curious to why I haven’t mentioned Rina Katsuta in the review and that’s primarily due to the fact that she graduated from the group back in September.  Due to that fact, she was not present for this single, but she did leave a solo song in her wake (and she did release this song digitally the day before she graduated).  Anyways, Totteoki no Oshare wo Shite right from the beginning reminded me of both Sayumi Michishige’s “Shabadabadoo~” and Kanon Fukuda’s “Watashi”.  As all 3 are graduating solo songs, it’s funny they’re all super cutesy songs that didn’t really sound like anything else on the single. Rinapuu though sounds so cute though and while this is VERY close to Sayumi’s song, it has it’s own jazzy feel and it turned out nice!

4. Myouban, Galaxy Gekijou de

Talking about jazzy, the main B-side of the single Myouban, Galaxy Gekijou de is definitely giving them feels with this one, but it’s a lot more in your face and exciting to listen to.  I’m pretty happy with this song just having a lot of brass and sass and it just has a lot of fun with it’s sound.  It kind of surprises me that I think every member has a solo within it too!  Just surprised ANGERME has a legit B-side again (haven’t seen one of those since…”Tabidachi no Haru ga Kita”?).

 

 

What a mess this single had to come into, I mean this is the first ANGERME single without both Ayaka Wada and Rina Katsuta (well barring the solo being smushed in) and this being both the debut for Rin and final for Kanana, there was just so much going on in this song.  Though I can’t say if this single really did much for me?  I do really like both Zenzen Okiagarenai SUNDAY and Myouban, Galaxy Gekijou de as it bring such different sides to the group, but Watashi wo Tsukeru no wa Watashi was kind of the normal song I’d expect from them.  As for Totteoki no Oshare wo Shite, it feels out of place considering that Rina was already gone from the group when it releases so it just had no place (should’ve stayed a digital song, honestly).

Though it seems this member lineup isn’t staying to long since Funakki is leaving in March…so I’m just kind of bummed my favorite members are leaving…

WayV – Take Over The Moon

Track Listing

1. Moonwalk
2. Yeah Yeah Yeah
3. Love Talk
4. King of Hearts
5. Face to Face
6. We go nanana

1. Moonwalk

As the group returned for a 3rd release in 2019, Moonwalk really shows a different side to WayV without stretching far off from what “Take Off” previous was able to do for the group.  The piano, the dramatic strings in the poppy arrangement really reminds of Kpop of yore (as in like 2nd Generation of like TVXQ, TEEN TOP, VIXX and similar groups with these kind of songs).  I’m really liking this and finally it feels like Ten, Kun, and Xiaojun really felt like the vocalists while Winwin, Lucas, Hendery, and Yangyang were the rappers.  I have to give props though to Yangyang, his raps were pretty fire in this one, but everyone did well in their parts.  I think it’s currently my favorite leading track and really shows the group growing more and more.

2. Yeah Yeah Yeah

As the 2nd track in, Yeah Yeah Yeah feels a little more of the hip-hopish vibes that NCT 127 was heavily pulling off.  It’s slower than “Moonwalk”, but the groove is pretty much hefty and brings out the cool side of the group.  I’m liking everyone here and I’m surprised Winwin was pronounced in some of the sections.  I also am impressed by Xiaojun’s growth as a singer too.  It’s a pretty neat song overall!

3. Love Talk

I guess this could be considered another track that promoted the mini (it had a PV, although it was with the English version, which was released separately digitally).  I’m really like the toned down feel of the song and the kind of sexy glow that’s all about it.  That kind of laidback, with the light tropical synths is nice and this was definitely a song based around Xiaojun, Kun, and Ten for the most part while Lucas, Hendery, and Yangyang had the raps.  I was surprised at the lack of Winwin, but they gave him the closing line…interesting but I mean why?  Honestly, the English version is so much better in line distribution, so I have to say listen to that over the Korean cut.

4. King of Hearts

Next up are the two kind of splintered groupings on the mini.  King of Hearts is another slow jam of a song, but this is more R&B/Hip-hop based.  I’m enjoying Lucas, Hendery, and Yangyang together rapping their sections as it adds a bit of spice to an otherwise slower tune during the verses.  Though what caught me off guard the most was that Winwin had the singing lines of the song and he sounded amazing in them, makes you wonder why he gets shorted so much in NCT.  The tune is a short one though with two verses and two choruses basically.  It’s fine overall, but yay for some kind of appreciation for Winwin!

5. Face to Face

Seems the next track only has Kun, Ten, and Xiaojun singing together here and fair enough is that the tune is a ballad on the mini-album.  Granted it is the 3 best singers here so I feel like it made sense to hear them in this track.  Though the open space in this ballad with the echo filters and light arrangement is kind of boring to me.  Though the 3 melodically sound great though.

6. We go nanana

The mini-album ends with We go nanana and it feels like WayV is pulling a similar tone like NCT 127’s “Touch” with that cute upbeat pop song that’s kind of 90’s funky but sort of pulling on those nostalgic strings.  I’m just enjoying the nature of the song and it’s a style I haven’t seen WayV tackle until now.  I’m also loving that everyone is getting some decent spotlight here.

 

 

This could be WayV’s best release to date!  There’s just a lot of variety here in the songs and really showcases every member in the group in a positive way, everything that was shaky from their first two releases has kind of dissipated here.  The two leading songs were pretty good tracks (although English version of Love Talk is much better) and the other 4 songs were pretty good too!  I would say WayV really had an awesome 2019 overall and this was a great release towards the end of the year *RECOMMENDED*