This's ayumi's 1st new material release since 2018's TROUBLE mini album .
Ohia no Ki was played at the final episode of M: Ai Subeki Hito ga Ite which the drama was inspired by ayumi's own life .
Ohia references Ohi'a lehua , a flowering shrub native to the 6 largest islands of Hawaii .
Ohia no Ki is ayumi's 1st song that she utilised a Japanese song title .
This's possibly 1 of ayumi's most personal songs to date as Ohia no Ki was written for her son & lyrically , it's for him .
Even though Ohia no Ki sounds like a typical generic ayumi ballad , lyrically I'm sure it's 1 song that ayumi holds extremely dearly to her heart .
ayumi's 2nd new song Dreamed a Dream was released today digitally & that will be reviewed soon .
This's the 2nd duet both artistes work on together , after 2017's Heart Up .
ayaka started working on Negaiboshi during the COVID-19 stay at home period as she wanted to do something with music . She contacted Miura , who she 1st collaborated with in Heart Up .
Through social media , ayaka & Miura asked fans to share their thoughts and photos to write the lyrics for Negaiboshi . Then , ayaka requested musicians she has worked with in the past to record the song in their homes .
I personally like Negaiboshi the moment I 1st heard it . I know some did not like Heart Up but I feel that ayaka & Miura's vocals compliment each other extremely well .
If both artistes decide to collaborate again in future , I will not mind at all . Just that I hope for once it will not be another ballad again , an upbeat number would be a nice change of things .
CD
CD + DVD A
CD + DVD B
Hey ! Say ! JUMP's latest single offering comes in almost 5 months+ since their previous single release I am / Muah Muah .
Described as a love song , Last Mermaid... was chosen to be used as the ending theme song for season 4 of the drama Kaseifu no Mitazono starring member Inoo Kei & TOKIO's Matsuoka (which he has done as the lead role since the 1st season of the drama) .
This is the group's 2nd song to promote Kaseifu no Mitazono , after last May's Ai Dake ga Subete -What do you want?- and Last Mermaid... .
A total of 4 B-sides are made available in Last Mermaid... :
- U (CD Only Track)
- Kotoba wa Iranai (CD Only Track)
- Love me PLZ (CD + DVD A Track)
- Stupid (CD + DVD B Track)
Love me PLZ is described as an exhilarating ska number that expresses the impulse of love .
A video was made for Stupid but none of the members appeared in the exclusive GYAO! version of the video . A different video was eventually made & the 2nd version included in the CD + DVD B version of Last Mermaid... features all the members .
With a song title like Last Mermaid... , I wasn't sure what to expect but it's overall a pretty good single and the accompanied music video is 1 of their most abstract yet interesting videos they've created to date .
B-sides wise , the only track I'm not a fan of that much is Love me PLZ . The rest are pretty good & Kotoba wa Iranai is their longest song to date B-side wise with it being almost 7 mins .
Out of all the B-sides , I like Stupid the most and in a way I was a bit disappointed it wasn't released as an A-side with Last Mermaid... as I thought it was A-side worthy .
Despite the song title , there's nothing stupid about Stupid & it's 1 of Hey ! Say ! JUMP's Westernised sounding song to date .
The group's next release Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2019-2020 PARADE DVD & Blu-ray will be out next week on 5th Aug .
It reminds to be seen what their next music release will be but it will not surprise me if it will be a new studio album .
If so , hopefully their future 8th studio album will be on par if not just as good as their last 3 albums .
This song was chosen to originally promote SPYAIR's JUST LIKE THIS 2020 outdoor concert before it was cancelled due to COVID-19 .
While INSIDE OF ME is not as catchy on 1st listen as compared to their past songs that were used to promote their JUST LIKE THIS outdoor concerts , I'm glad that SPYAIR at last decided to release INSIDE OF ME as they haven't release any new songs this year until now .
With this year being SPYAIR's 10th anniversary , it reminds to be seen on what they will do to celebrate this milestone on a much smaller scale .
I for 1 do not want a new studio album as much as I would love a follow up album to 2017's KINGDOM . I rather see them put out a compilation album instead .
Saito's latest new song offering was chosen to promote TV Asahi's Jun Sanpo .
Jun Pu is a carefree sounding song from Saito & it's relatively easy to like with Saito keeping things short & sweet .
With Saito's next physical single release will be his 50th overall , hopefully that will materialise soon .
1) poolside
2) IDEA
Kanon's latest release offering also includes a B-side , IDEA .
Regarding Kanon's previous release odd sting & intrigue EP , this mini album is still an unexpected nice surprise from her as it contained some of her best material to date .
As for the release of poolside , it's also surprising with Kanon not being in Japan currently so for her to still put out new material , it's always welcome .
Compared to Kanon's past material , poolside is very different , likewise with IDEA . Not much cello influences are felt in both songs . Instead , both tracks are a lot more English & Rock ish sounding .
I don't know if that's a good or bad thing but at least Kanon tried something different even though her past music experiments , some were good while others felt flat to me .
I'm not hoping for another odd sting & intrigue EP replicate but of course if Kanon did another of this type or surprise once more , I'm up for it .
With the digital release of puff , this's the 1st song to commemorate Koda's 20th anniversary in the business .
During these current trying times , when people are encouraged to stay at home due to COVID-19 , Koda has been sharing exercises that can easily be done at home through her 'How To Dance' series which the videos are uploaded via her YouTube account .
puff is described as a cheer-on song that is meant to encourage people who are doing their best . The song title stands for "out of breath & Koda can be heard singing ,"even at home , I want to become closer to my ideal self" in puff .
Koda's latest new song offering felt like if LIT & k, have an offspring together which could be a bad or good thing depending on how you look at it .
For me , puff is a fun highly energetic song and not sure if the ending of the song was done on purpose but if so , Koda does sound convincingly out of breath after she finished singing the song .
Seeing that puff is the 1st song release to celebrate Koda's 20th anniversary , it wouldn't be surprising if more new material from her will come in due time .
With this year being Koda's 20th anniversary , she for once should not release a new studio album this year & instead focus on an all time best to celebrate her landmark milestone in the business .
If not I can see Koda probably do again if not something similar with regards to 2010's BEST～third universe～ & 8th AL "UNIVERSE" even though I personally don't want it to happen once more as UNIVERSE is 1 of my least favourite Koda studio albums .
2 CDs
CD + DVD A
CD + DVD B
Standard tracklist for all 3 versions
1) "9th" Overture
2) To Yours
3) Real Love
4) HANDS UP
5) Cannonball
6) Letting Go
7) Positive Man
8) MAHARAJA
9) Be alright
10) My Place
11) Edge of Days
12) Make you mine
13) Sometime...
14) memento
15) COUNT 7EVEN
16) Smilest
Secret Track (Only available in the 2 CDs version) :
17) Tane
Only in the 2nd disc of 2 CDs version
・ # NO!NO! (Tamamori Yuta & Nikaido Takashi)
・ Bacteria (Kitayama Hiromitsu & Fujigaya Taisuke)
・ Oukoku no Chou (Yokoo Wataru & Senga Kento)
・ Unmei (Miyata Toshiya & Tamamori Yuta)
Pronounced as toys , the new album title is a word play on Ongaku = Omocha .
The release of To-y2 comes in almost a year since the group's last studio album release FREE HUGS! .
With their new album , Kis-My-Ft2 hopes to enrich their fans' lives by utilising the 'music = toys' that they produce to share play , happiness & excitement ."
Singles HANDS UP & Edge of Days are included in To-y2 . 1 album track To Yours had a video made while the 2nd CD in the 2 CDs version includes 4 sub unit songs .
These 4 album tracks receive promo tie in's :
- Real Love ; used in the ads of Kowa's 3D Mask
- My Place ; used in the ads of Tokyo Interior
- memento ; theme song for NTV's Yameru Toki mo, Sukoyaka Naru Toki mo drama starring member Fujigaya Taisuke as the lead male role
- Smilest ; used in the ads of Apaman Shop
And in a 1st for Kis-My-Ft2 , they've included a secret bonus track which's only available in the 2 CDs regular version of To-y2 and the secret song is titled Tane .
Kis-My-Ft2 shares the joy of music in their 9th original album To-y2 . The rich and genreless album uses the idea of "music = toys" to convey happiness and playfulness .
Unlike the usual way I write album reviews , this time round I decided to write about Kis-My-Ft2's latest album offering in a different way .
To-y2 includes a lot of new album material but unfortunately , I don't like all of them . The ones that stood out to me are :
- Cannonball
- My Place
- Sometime...
- COUNT 7EVEN
- Smilest
The other album tracks are either just downright bad if not not memorable or sounds like Johnny's Junior reject songs .
On the other hand , I'm surprised it took Kis-My-Ft2 so long to at last include a secret track in their studio albums & luckily Tane is fantastic and it's a great successor to FREE HUGS!'s Rura Rurara .
As for the 4 sub unit songs that're only available in the 2nd CD in the 2 CDs version of To-y2 , overall they're only ok for my liking but the 1 that stood out from the rest in a good way is Miyata Toshiya & Tamamori Yuta's Unmei .
Kitayama Hiromitsu & Fujigaya Taisuke has done duets before & compared to their past duets , I feel Bacteria is not their best work .
Overall To-y2 to me is not as good as FREE HUGS! . The album's major flaw is the album tracks with them being focused more on quantity & not quality .
And this time round , I don't agree with the group's choice in making a video for To Yours cos I feel there're other somewhat better album tracks that should have had videos made such as Tane .
Kis-My-Ft2 has been releasing studio albums on a yearly basis since 2011 and I've highlighted before this problem that this in process will cause the quality of their music to suffer which unfortunately it happens to them & also other artistes I support .
With next year being Kis-My-Ft2's 10th anniversary in the business , I hope for once they will not release a new studio album next year but rather a compilation album in celebration of their milestone .
