Reviews: 11/12 New Releases

REVIEWS: I’m late once again with my new release reviews, I apologise – BUT I have an excuse this time… I spilled boiling hot soup on my hand yesterday (It stung like hell) and I literally had my hand in a bucket of iced water the whole day – so while I was able to slowly navigate my computer, typing reviews would have been extremely difficult, especially with the amount I’m tackling this week.
Lots of great artists are releasing this week and I couldn’t even review all that I wanted to. Some new releases I had to skip were the GazettE’s new song which is doing really well on the charts, Nakashima Mika’s ORION, Hirahara Ayaka’s new double A-side and alan’s final elements single, Megumi no Ame. I liked some of these tracks but they didn’t really make a huge opinion on me either way. I also skipped reviewing Wakeshima Kanon's Suna no Oshiro because I ordered that and I'll do a review of it later when it arrives (bulk order so it'll be a while). In the end I went with new tracks from SPEED, HALCALI, Buono!, Aoyama Thelma, Satoda Mai, ORANGE RANGE and DREAMS COME TRUE. Enjoy!

Ashita no Sora SPEED

SPEED’s much anticipated new single Ashita no Sora is their first since their charity single in 2003, after disbanding in 2000. They apparently have regrouped due to Eriko’s son’s hearing difficulties; that if he couldn’t hear her music, she wants him to be able to see his mother perform. So while making her son happy, she’s also made thousands of SPEED fans absolutely ecstatic.
Their comeback single is a nice mid-tempo track with a bit of a soul feel to it. The song starts with the chorus which is by far the best part of the song. I think it’s really catchy and is the highlight of the song for me. The verses are a bit uninteresting unfortunately and I found myself just waiting impatiently for the next chorus. It definitely saves this song. Thankfully the verse sections aren’t too long – the chorus makes up most of the track as well as some nice instrumental sections.
I think for a comeback this is a nice sound for SPEED, it has a more adult feel to it, reflective of their members having grown up since the early days of the group. This works because they’ll be targeting a different age group, their fans having also aged. For myself, who was not a fan of SPEED (purely because they were around before my j-pop fandom kicked in) I think it’s a great track that can also attract new fans.

Rating: 8/10

Long Kiss Goodbye HALCALI

It’s been over a year since we’ve had a new song from the HALCALI girls and it was over a year too long to wait! I adore HALCALI and their unique, fresh tracks so it’s great that they’ve come out with a new single FINALLY.
Long Kiss Goodbye has the signature rap style vocals from the girls paired with a nice smooth chorus, an effect that works really well and that I am personally a fan of. Unlike the last review, the verses this time are probably my favourite parts of the song, though I do adore the chorus too. It’s almost a shame that after the second verse there isn’t any other rap sections, with the bridge of the song being similar to the chorus, but that’s ok. I’m not too nit picky when it comes to HALCALI tracks, I just enjoy them for what they are and I’m thankful that these girls are still producing great music.

Rating: 8.5/10

Lotta Love Lotta Love Buono!

Lotta Love Lotta Love (or Rottara Rottara as some of you like to say) is Buono!’s newest single and the closing for Shugo Chara! Doki! – While Buono! aren’t doing the opening themes anymore, they are still doing the closings, which isn’t really a huge issue. Only their B-sides have ever been opening themes for the anime, with the rockier signature sound of Buono! always being used for the closings.
Lotta Love Lotta Love, I have to say is my favourite Buono! track or at least on par with Renai Rider. The whole song is just great, it’s like a roller coaster of awesomeness – thrills at every turn. The "Lotta Love" sections are catchy and fun to sing along to (not that I’ve tried), the rocky instrumental is awesome, the pre-chorus builds really well, the chorus is fantastic, the girls sound great … what more can I say? I LOVE IT!

Rating: 9.5/10

Mamoritai Mono Aoyama Thelma

Aoyama Thelma really shot to fame with Soba ni Iru ne earlier this year, which sold close to 500K and her follow up single Nando mo selling 70K which is still a good number. She has an R&B style to her music which isn’t really my favourite genre and I haven’t particularly been able to latch onto her stuff yet so I was hoping her new track Mamoritai Mono could change my mind.
The track is a winter ballad which I always really love, with a touch of an R&B feel to it, which I love ... not so much. The winter sounding instrumental is really beautiful, with nice orchestral sections in it and Thelma sounds really wonderful on this song. For a ballad I have to say this track is quite good. The pre-chorus is particularly nice and interesting and the whole song has really nice elements to it. Despite this, I dunno, I just can’t get into it that much. Maybe it’s because of the R&B feel, I'm not really sure. I think this will appeal to her fans (if they are into ballads) but not particularly for me.

Rating: 7/10

Mou Sugu Christmas Satoda Mai with Gouda Kyodai

So now we get to the most popular H!P girl, Satoda Mai (who would have thunk it!) with her new single Mou Sugu Christmas. She sings this track with Gouda Kyodai (Fujimoto Toshifumi and misono) and it's linked to the Quiz! Hexagon variety show so it’s sure to sell pretty well, I would think.
The track starts off with a sweet Christmas-y intro but then kind of switches to a more mid-tempo, fun beat. Apart from the odd bell or two in the instrumental it doesn’t really give off a huge Christmas feel, but Mai-chan with Reindeer antlers on the cover more than makes up for that. The song really isn’t that good lol, but let’s be honest, it’s meant to be a fun, crazy song – it’s not meant to be a masterpiece. Vocal wise, not the best from any of the singers, because they’re trying to sound silly and cute, so on that front ... mission accomplished. For fun factor, it scores high for sure.

Rating: 7.5/10

Oshare Banchou feat. SOY SAUCE ORANGE RANGE

Oshara Benchou feat SOY SAUCE is another crazy track from ORANGE RANGE, with a techno dance style. It’s the promo song for the Glico Pocky Chocolate cm which features a scantily clad model crazily dancing to the song with pocky in her hands. Yum! ... the pocky I mean ... ^_^ - I really enjoy the track there, but sans hot model I’m not sure I will :P
The track is a bit hard to review lol. I’m not sure where to start – This song feels a tad repetitious but then I guess all dance tracks are to some point. The chorus is repeated ad nauseam; thankfully it’s the best part of the song. It’s been produced really well, there are some interesting effects throughout – yeah… I dunno, just listen to it *lol*

Rating: 7/10

Tsuretette Tsuretette DREAMS COME TRUE

DREAMS COME TRUE is another really popular group that I haven’t ever gotten around to having a good listen to but this single really stood out to me – The winter promo pics, the “winter limited edition”, the snowman on the cover … this all screamed AWESOME WINTER TRACK to me. I was a bit disappointed though, this song isn’t very Winter-y at all o.O Despite this I gave the song a listen and it actually was better than I expected.
The whole song is quite a laid back, mid-tempo track with a bit of a soft dance beat to it. The chorus is the highlight of the song, beginning with a really lovely line which has a nice melody to it that’s quite catchy and repeated with the "Tsuretette Tsuretette" lines. The song sort of floats on by really nicely and towards the end of the track there are some pa ra pa pum pum’s (at least I think that’s what they’re singing) which makes it a bit more Winter-y.
Tsuretette Tsuretette is the kind of track that grows on you I think, it got a lot better each listen for me (I usually listen to the tracks over and over before and while I review – ;) I’m listening right now!). So yeah if you don't like it straight away, maybe give it another few listens, as it's quite a nice track... even if it is only slightly Winter-y :P

Rating: 8/10