CD Review :: GIRL NEXT DOOR - NEXT FUTURE
CD Only Cover :
CD + DVD Cover :
Tracklist :
1) Jump
2) Infinity
3) Winter Crystal
4) Sora e (To The Sky)
5) Tri△ngle
6) Seeds of dream
7) Artemis
8) Orion
9) Muboubi na Jun'ai (Defenseless Pure Love)
10) Suzukaze Kaoru Hana (Cool Breeze , Fragrant Flowers)
11) sa・ku・ra
12) Be your wings
13) Koi no Mahou (Magic Of Love)
14) FRIENDSHIP
15) Infinity ~Ballad Version~ (Hidden Track)
NEXT FUTURE is GIRL NEXT DOOR's 2nd album . It will be released tomorrow on 20th Jan & this comes almost a year & a month since the release of their self titled debut album .
All the singles that the trio released last year made the cut in NEXT FUTURE . However , Wait for you which's the 3rd A-side of their 1st triple A-side / 6th single Be your wings / FRIENDSHIP / Wait for you is not included in their new album .
NEXT FUTURE marks a 1st for GIRL NEXT DOOR as you can find a hidden track in their 2nd album in the form of the ballad version of their 5th single Infinity .
Just like Winter Game from their 1st album , Jump is the 1st & only album track in NEXT FUTURE to get a music video .
I know I wrote before that Jump didn't had a good lasting impression on me but I'm feeling some good things over the song now . I'm not sure why but I guess after hearing a much better/higher quality of Jump , that somehow changed my opinions over the song now .
The ending of Jump flows straight & quite nicely to Infinity which's the group's 5th single .
Infinity was used as the ending theme song for the drama Atashinchi no Danshi & this's so far the trio's only #1 single to date .
Despite this , I had & still have odd dislikes over Infinity . I'm not sure if it's because of the video that turned me off in a way or 2 but I'm not going to deny that the song's catchy but I don't really consider it as a fave single of the group .
Winter Crystal is the 2nd album track & this's a successor of sorts after the trio included Winter Game , WINTER MIRAGE & Winter Game in their 1st album , title wise .
On 1st listen of Winter Crystal , I have vibes of Jounetsu no Daishou (Price Of Passion) but I get that out of the way , this's a pretty good strong winter inspired no. .
Sora e (To The Sky) is the next track & this's 1 cheery no. . Underneath all the synth & layerings , there's a slight detection of electric guitar riffs going on here .
Funny enough , I took a liking instantly towards Sora e on 1st listen which I believe it's a good sign .
Tri△ngle is 1 of my fave album tracks in NEXT FUTURE as it's 1 of the more angsty emotionally driven tunes & also it fits the album in the sense that it has some really cool sleek futuristic sounds to it .
Aside from the title , I like the whole feeling that Tri△ngle brings to the table as well .
Seeds of dream is the group's 4th single & it was used to promote Glico Ice no Mi in their ad .
I remembered way back last year when this song was released , I did commented that I thought Seeds of dream was their weakest sounding single but not anymore . I'm fine with it now .
Artemis is the 1st instrumental/interlude piece in NEXT FUTURE & clocking in at 3:52 mins , it might sound daunting to you but it's very beautiful .
The melody of Artemis has some shades of their debut single Guuzen no Kakuritsu (Coincidental Probability) which's fantastic as it's orchestra driven . It's only towards the last few seconds of Artemis that it borrowed shades of melody pertaining to the next song you can find after Artemis ended / flowed nicely towards Orion .
Orion is the group's 7th single & it's the last single included prior to the release of NEXT FUTURE .
The song was used as the theme no. for the drama Untouchable .
This's their 1st winter inspired ballad that was released as a single . I really like it as it's so touching / emotionally driven . You can feel quite a lot of emotions that lead singer / frontwoman Chisa carried in here . It's a pity that this's their worst charting single to date since all this while prior to Orion , they have been attaining top 5 status in the singles & album department .
Muboubi na Jun'ai (Defenseless Pure Love) is another fave album track of mine . Just like Tri△ngle , Muboubi na Jun'ai has a really cool sleek / futuristic sound .
It's quite aggressive & angst driven which's a bit different from what the trio usually does which I like .
Suzukaze Kaoru Hana (Cool Breeze , Fragrant Flowers) is the last interlude piece in NEXT FUTURE & funny enough , this's a total contrast to Artemis , duration wise .
While Artemis clocks in at 3:52 mins , Suzukaze Kaoru Hana is only a mere 29 seconds long which I find it a bit odd seeing that the 2 instrumental interludes in NEXT FUTURE are on wide ends of the spectrum , duration wise but anyway Suzukaze Kaoru Hana flows nicely to the next album track sa・ku・ra .
sa・ku・ra is the longest track in NEXT FUTURE , clocking in at 6:48 mins . I think it's ok to consider this as a ballad as there're not many ballads you can find in their 2nd album .
It does have resemblances to WINTER MIRAGE except for sa・ku・ra's case , it's less draggy I feel & there's just something about the song that captivates me .
Be your wings is the 1st A-side of their 6th single Be your wings / FRIENDSHIP / Wait for you .
The song was used as the opening theme song to the PlayStation Portable game Tales of VS. .
I have no complains towards Be your wings ever since I 1st heard it & the music video's also 1 of my fave of the trio too so no further questions asked on that .
Koi no Mahou (Magic Of Love) is the final album track & frankly this's 1 song that took me quite a long time to remember .
I frankly don't find Koi no Mahou anything special . It does have a futuristic sound to a certain extent but not as much as compared to Tri△ngle & Muboubi na Jun'ai .
But since it's slotted as the 2nd last track in NEXT FUTURE , I guess I can close an eye or 2 on this .
FRIENDSHIP is the 2nd A-side of the group's 6th single Be your wings / FRIENDSHIP / Wait for you & it's also the last song of the album .
I did mentioned before that I had deja vu vibes of ayumi hamasaki's Boys & Girls when I 1st heard FRIENDSHIP .
They're not as strong/prominent as before but this's 1 fun 80's sounding song that I still like & I think it's a good way to wrap things up in NEXT FUTURE .
I'm not sure if NEXT FUTURE is a fitting album title for GIRL NEXT DOOR's 2nd album but I guess it probably can be so to a certain extent .
Some of the album tracks do fit the whole next future concept & those tracks are strong / futuristic sleek sounding .
There's definitely growth / improvements that I can sense when I compare both their albums side by side together & I sure hope that they will continue to make waves & go places in the jpop music scene for the type of music that they make .
