This's the 2nd no. that BENI released digitally this month & the 1st 1 was Chasin' Feat IO that was released on 6th July .
READY25 was chosen to be used as a cheer relay song for the Yokohama DeNA Baystars baseball team .
Tsutsugo Yoshitomo who plays for the Yokohama DeNA Baystars baseball team befriended BENI last year via a mutual acquaintance & Tsutsugo is the 1 that requested BENI to write a song for the baseball team he plays for .
Surprisingly on 1st listen , READY25 doesn't have the music traits of a sports driven theme song . Instead it has quite a strong Caribbean flair which I thought it's more appropriate to be used as a Summer song instead .
Also same with Chasin' , I find that READy25 gets quite repetitive after a while & the fact that the same people worked on both songs , that's no coincidence .
Overall both Chasin' & READy25 are ok but to me they're not BENI's best as she has other great songs in her discography but given a choice , I would not recommend them to a 1st timer who's not familiar with her music .
I can only hope that BENI's future new material will be better .
BENI will be releasing 4 songs digitally within the next 4 months starting from July until Oct .
Chasin' is described as a Jazz R&B no. . KANDYTOWN's IO is featured in the song & KANDYTOWN's Neetz had a hand in arranging Chasin' .
The digital single cover for Chasin' was taken by THE TAXi FILMS that manages IO .
On Chasin' , BENI commented , "People are always chasing after something whether it's love or something else . The song + lyrics portray the sadness and impatience upon nearing that thing you're chasing , the excitement & expectation you get the moment you're about to obtain it & the feeling of emptiness when you realise that the game is over once you finally have it in your hands ."
It's good to see BENI return with new material this year & I thought Chasin' was cool but I would have like the song much more if it didn't sound repetitive and also I don't like IO's vocals that much too .
I think if both aspects are not there , then I probably would like Chasin' much more . Maybe the other new songs that BENI will release in the next few months , I might like them more .
CD
CD + Blu-ray
1) BEASTFUL
2) Asame Shimae no Yasashii Sekai
3) BEASTFUL (OFF VOCAL)
4) Asame Shimae no Yasashii Sekai (OFF VOCAL)
GRANRODEO's new single was released 5 months + since their previous single Deadly Drive .
BEASTFUL was chosen to be used as the opening theme song for the Baki anime that's currently aired via NETFLIX .
Asame Shimae no Yasashii Sekai serves as B-side in BEASTFUL .
GRANRODEO once again delivered a pretty solid single offering & I'm surprised to hear vocalist KISHOW's falsetto towards the end of BEASTFUL .
I also thought that Asame Shimae no Yasashii Sekai was not bad but in a way I was hoping it might be a ballad to contrast against the A-side .
I do hope that BEASTFUL will not be the last single that GRANRODEO release this year but be it a new single or album as their next release , I welcome either 1 .
CD
1) Manatsu no Zanzou
2) Konya , Nostalgia de
CD + DVD A
1) Manatsu no Zanzou
2) Konya , Nostalgia de
3) Manatsu no Zanzou ~Karaoke~
CD + DVD B
1) Konya , Nostalgia de
2) Manatsu no Zanzou
3) Konya , Nostalgia de ~Karaoke~
DAIGO's last solo single release was 2016's K S K .
Manatsu no Zankyou / Konya, Nostalgia de is DAIGO's 4th overall double A-side solo single & it's to commemorate his 15th anniversary in the business .
Release wise , Manatsu no Zankyou / Konya, Nostalgia de was released 10 days before Solo debut 15th anniversary live [DAIGO VS DAIGO☆STARDUST] will take place this coming Sat on 21st July at Tokyo's Nakano Sun Plaza Hall .
The last single that wasn't composed by DAIGO was DAIGO☆STARDUST's 2003 / debut single MARIA , which was composed by BOØWY's Himuro Kyosuke .
Credits wise , both A-sides were written & composed by GLAY's guitarist TAKURO . Also participating in the single as the guitarist is GLAY's guitarist HISASHI .
Also unlike DAIGO's past solo singles & K S K , there're no B-side/s included in Manatsu no Zankyou / Konya , Nostalgia de and this's the 2nd time instrumentals of both A-sides are included as well after K S K .
Konya , Nostalgia de was chosen to be used as the ending theme song for TV Asahi's BREAK OUT this month . GLAY's TAKURO makes an appearance in the video alongside with DAIGO .
When it was announced that DAIGO will release a new solo single that featured no personal input from him , on 1 hand I'm excited but the other I was a bit worried as I've been very accustomed to DAIGO being the 1 to mainly work on both his solo & BREAKERZ material .
But once I found out it's GLAY's TAKURO that worked on both Manatsu no Zankyou + Konya , Nostalgia de , I know things will be left in good hands & I wasn't disappointed when I heard both songs .
The fact that I listen/support GLAY , upon hearing both Manatsu no Zankyou + Konya , Nostalgia de separately , they definitely do sound like something GLAY would sing themselves & I feel that GLAY's TAKURO did a great job creating them with each of them sounding different from 1 another .
Manatsu no Zankyou is quite upbeat sounding while Konya , Nostalgia de is a lot more mellow , coupled with strong saxophone sounds .
Given a choice I prefer Konya , Nostalgia de over Manatsu no Zankyou but both are equally good & worth listening .
DAIGO will be celebrating his 15th anniversary in the music business this year and GLAY's TAKURO gave him a wonderful 'present' by creating 2 solid songs .
And for DAIGO to have material created by 1 of his many musician idols , it's a dream come true for him .
CD Regular
CD Limited
CD + DVD
NEWS's 9th album EPCOTIA was released in March .
Member Tegoshi Yuya was appointed as the main caster for NTV's coverage for the current ongoing 2018 FIFA World Cup that will conclude tomorrow . Additionally , BLUE was selected as the programme's theme song .
The 2018 FIFA World Cup started last month on 14th June in Russia . Tegoshi previously served as the main caster for NTV's 2014 coverage of the World Cup in Brazil . He commented , "While enjoying it myself , I hope to deliver the heat of the festival of the FIFA World Cup ."
BLUE represents the blue of the Earth as well as the image colour of the Japanese representative team . It's described as a number with an impressive chorus and an uplifting feeling .
Described as a fantastic soccer song themed around blue . Opening up with a glorious chorus , this spirited fight song coveys the bond of NEWS who's celebrating their 15th anniversary this year .
As such , the powerful joint singing and Nippon call in the chorus of BLUE are a must hear .
The following 4 songs serve as B-sides in BLUE :
- Cascade
- Yoru yo Odore (CD Regular Edition Track)
- NEWS Nippon -Represent NEWS Mix- (CD Limited Edition Track)
- Stand Up -Represent NEWS Mix- (CD Limited Edition Track)
This time round , NEWS re-recorded 2 old songs that're fans favourites ie. NEWS Nippon (1st single) & Stand Up which was the 1st B-side in the group's debut single Kibou ~Yell~ .
NEWS's 23rd single BLUE is Nippon TV's theme song for the 2018 FIFA World Cup coverage . With its powerful and uplifting chorus , the title track makes for a fantastic sing-along soccer anthem to support the Samurai Blue .
Knowing that BLUE is the 5th football related song that NEWS has created & their 3rd to be released as a single , that's a bit daunting to know .
Due to this , I was sceptical if I might like BLUE as I didn't quite liked KINGDOM but to say that I was pleasantly surprised it's an understatement .
B-sides wise , I thought either Cascade and/or Yoru yo Odore might be ballads to contrast BLUE but they're not bad on whole .
And hearing the newly recorded versions of both NEWS Nippon & Stand Up gave me a lot of nostalgic vibes as it's quite crazy to know that these 2 songs has been part of NEWS's discography for so long & yet they're still enjoyed by long time fans even up to now .
Overall BLUE is quite a good single but when the next world cup rolls by in 4 years time , I do hope that for once another Johnny group & not NEWS will be the 1 to come up with a football theme related song .