1) The Love Song
2) Lost In Paradise
3) Good Now
4) I Like It Feat JAZEE MINOR
This's the 2nd of 2 mini albums that JASMINE released this year after she released M digitally in Aug .
Before S was released digitally , the mini album's lead promo track The Love Song was releaesd digitally on 17th Oct .
Both mini albums' music directions contrast each other but in a good way . M included mid tempo / mellow songs which none of that can be found in S .
Just like M , I don't know what does S stands for in this context but most probably it's either sultry or smooth sounding cos all the 4 songs in the mini album are in the same music direction .
M showcases a more softer side of JASMINE and in S she showcases a lot more feistiness in her new mini album .
Both mini albums present very different musical sides of JASMINE & frankly I like both releases equally .
It's heartening to see that despite the struggles that JASMINE had in the music business , the fact that she still continues to make music by her own terms , that's something worth noting & to admire her for and I do hope she will continue to do this in the new year .
2 CDs
3 CDs + Blu-ray
GRANRODEO Singles Collection "RODEO BEAT SHAKE" was released on 4th Nov & this's to celebrate GRANRODEO's 15th anniversary in the business .
A video was also made for welcome to THE WORLD .
The words hot mess can be used to describe welcome to THE WORLD but in a good way as it's quite something they're able to fit in many different music genres in just 1 song alone .
From the introduction having a retro disco vibe towards the end where it ends on a band marching inspired tune , something about welcome to THE WORLD is quite strangely musically appealing .
On that note , happy 15th anniversary to GRANRODEO !
This is ARASHI's 4th original song which was released digitally after last Nov's Turning Up , July's IN THE SUMMER & last month's Whenever You Call .
Party Starters was produced by Sam Hollander , who also has worked with One Direction , Katy Perry & Panic! At The Disco .
This song was originally supposed to be released on 12th June but was postponed . The track was recorded in Los Angeles & was chosen to promote Softbank's 5G project ads starring ARASHI themselves .
Party Starters is described as a positive uptempo tune & the song has Sakurap in it .
Music wise , Party Starters is more or less in the same vein as IN THE SUMMER . While it's a fun upbeat song , just like ARASHI's other digital released original songs , Party Starters is not really my cup of tea even though others might like it .
ARASHI's 17th album This is ARASHI was released on 3rd Nov & Party Starters is included in the new album as track 9 .
CD + DVD
1) One Day
2) I'm・A・Believer
3) Imagination
4) One Day (Anime Size)
5) One Day (Instrumental)
This is SPYAIR's 1st proper physical CD single release since 2018's I Wanna Be... .
The A-side was picked to be used as the ending theme song for the Haikyuu!! TO THE TOP anime .
One Day is SPYAIR's 3rd song that was chosen to promote the Haikyuu!! anime after 2014's Imagination & 2015's I'm・A・Believer but this's their 1st to be used as the ending theme song .
The 2 previous songs used to promote the Haikyuu!! anime are included in the physical release of the single .
Before the physical release of One Day , the A-side was 1st released digitally on 3rd Oct .
The digital release of One Day includes ULTRA & this exclusive instrumental song was created by bassist MOMIKEN + drummer KENTA .
One Day is classic SPYAIR . At 1st I was slightly disappointed it was not a ballad as with this being their 1st song used as the ending theme for the Haikyuu!! anime as Imagination & I'm・A・Believer were upbeat songs so I was hoping things would be different for once but that was not the case .
Despite this , I'm so pleased SPYAIR is back with something new . I'm not really a big instrumental fan but ULTRA is actually quite good .
With this year being SPYAIR's 10th anniversary I'm sure if not for the COVID-19 pandemic , they would have done a lot more to mark this momentum milestone of theirs but it's better than nothing .
1) New Language Feat Maika Loubte
2) Made In Love
3) Do It
4) Unison
5) UI Feat Devin Morrison
6) Rm 302
7) your love + my love
8) That's The Way Love Goes (Janet Jackson)
This is BENI's 1st release under her real name Beni Daniels .
A total of 8 songs are included in MADE IN LOVE EP inclusive of a cover of Janet Jackson's That's The Way Love Goes . All except for Rm 302 are sung completely in English while for Rm 302 , the inclusion of Japanese lyrics is present in the song .
Not only that , 2 duets are featured in the mini album .
Before MADE IN LOVE EP was released , Made In Love & That's The Way Love Goes were both released digitally on 22nd Sept while UI Feat Devin Morrison was released digitally on 28th Sept .
A video was made for Made In Love while short videos were made for UI , Rm 302 & That's The Way Love Goes .
MADE IN LOVE EP is a release that it has been a long time coming from BENI . With her being fluent in both English & Japanese , I think she wanted to wait for the right time before she decided to do this .
Prior to that , she released 3 successful Japanese to English sung cover albums so COVERS 1 to 3 were kind of like small stepping stones for BENI .
That said , 1 word to describe the material in MADE IN LOVE EP is autobiographical as many of them lyrically describe where BENI is at currently in her personal life while the songs are a mixture of acoustic driven & mid tempo R&B driven no. .
If there's 1 thing about MADE IN LOVE EP that I'm not a fan of is the way BENI sings in some of the songs which's almost the same problem I experienced when I listened to her last studio album CINEMATIC .
That said , with the release of MADE IN LOVE EP this marks BENI on the next phase of her career under her full name by writing & performing music in English with the intention of reaching a broader , more international audience .
