Kobukuro's 1st new song release of the year , Days was 1st performed during the encore segment of KOBUKURO FAN SITE MEMBER EXCLUSIVE LIVE 2022 "NOCTURNE" which took place on 25th March at Osaka Jo Hall .
Days is classic Kobukuro at their best . The duo released their 33rd single Ryobou last July & musically it was quite different from their usual works .
However this's not the case for Days which's relatively easy to like on 1st listen & hopefully the release of this song will make some of their longtime fans happy .
CD
CD + Photobook
CD + Photobook + Blu-ray
1) Keibetsu
2) Daisuki Dakara…
3) 13 Tsuki
4) Roadside Tree
5) Ekitai
6) Damashii Ai
7) Shiroi Koe
8) Jiu no Kuchizuke
9) Yureru Natsu Fuku
10) Umibe
SID's last studio album release was 2019's Shonin Yokkyu & a total of 10 songs are included in Umibe , including the digital released song Jiu no Kuchizuke which was used as the opening theme no. for the Tenkan Shifuku anime , which's a Japanese dubbed version of The Heaven Official's Blessing anime .
The physical CD released singles that came out in 2020 & last year ie. delete , Houkiboshi & Star Forest are not included in Umibe .
2 album tracks Damashii Ai & Umibe (song) have videos made & Umibe is also SID's 1st album release to get a Blu-ray version .
These 3 album tracks were released digitally prior to Umibe's physical album release :
- Daisuki Dakara… ; released digitally on 8th March
- Damashii Ai ; released digitally on 1st March
- Umibe ; released digitally on 15th March
13 Tsuki & Roadside Tree were 1st performed during SID TOUR 2021 ~peep of 2022~ .
All songs in Umibe were written by vocalist Mao while the other 3 SID members were responsible for composing the material in the album as follows :
Composed by guitarist Shinji :
4) Roadside Tree
9) Yureru Natsu Fuku
Composed by bassist Aki :
1) Keibetsu
6) Damashii Ai
8) Jiu no Kuchizuke
10) Umibe
Composed by drummer Yuya :
2) Daisuki Dakara…
3) 13 Tsuki
5) Ekitai
7) Shiroi Koe
SID brings their 1st original album in over 3 years ! The band ambitiously creates their own genre dubbed Reiwa Kayo for the album Umibe , which tells 10 love stories .
I wrote before that for any artiste that chose not to include any prior released singles in an album that says a lot on how confident the artiste felt about the material & that's quite evident in SID's latest album offering Umibe .
While it's a bit unfortunate SID didn't include delete , Houkiboshi & Star Forest in Umibe , they free up space for more new songs in return & on whole Umibe is actually good .
On 1st look 10 songs for a studio album might felt little but for Umibe , it's quality over quantity & with the 3 SID members handling composing for different songs in the album , the result is Umibe is very musically diverse on whole .
SID has been around for a really long time & with a release like Umibe , I don't think they're going away anytime soon .
1) Kimi no Todoke
2) Sayonara no Shunkan
3) two of us
4) Ashita e no Kaeri Michi
5) Akashi
6) Yume Kara Samenaide
7) Hydrangea
8) Dareka no Haru no Kazen i Natte
9) Donna Mirai ni mo Ai wa Aru
10) Hana ni Nare
11) A Spring Breath
Songs indicated in bold are new material included in A Spring Breath while the other songs are re-arranged & newly recorded .
The newly recorded version of flumpool's 5th single Kimi ni Todoke was released digitally on 11th March . A video was made for the re-recorded version of the song but it's not included in the physical copy of A Spring Breath . Not only that , flumpool are not featured in the video .
The newly recorded version of flumpool's 7th single Akashi was released digitally on 4th March .
Sharing the same title as the concept album A Spring Breath was released digitally on 16th Feb .
Promo wise , A Spring Breath was used as the ending theme for morning show Mezamashi 8 for March . A video was made for A Spring Breath but it's not included in the physical release of the concept album .
Unlike the video made for the re-recorded version of Kimi ni Todoke , flumpool appears in the A Spring Breath video .
flumpool brings A Spring Breath of fresh air with an acoustic arrangement concept album that follows the flow of the band's 1st acoustic live tour ROOF PLAN ~Acoustic in Billboard Live~ that took place last Dec .
This hands down has to be flumpool's most unique release to date & even though they've been in the business for so long , I thought I've seen it all but A Spring Breath is such an interesting release , I was like why didn't they or any other artistes came up with something like this much earlier ?
For starters , I made a decision very early on to listen to the newly recorded songs & new material of A Spring Breath separately as I do not like how everything's all jumbled up together in the release .
Newly recorded songs wise , except for Hydrangea which I'm not familiar with , the rest are all pretty good & completely different from what they used to sound like .
Kimi ni Todoke & Akashi are still 2 of flumpool's best known songs to date so it's not a surprise they chose to re-record them . I must admit that I feel both songs are very over rated but something about the re-recorded versions resonate with me .
I also enjoy the other 3 re-recorded songs especially Hana ni Nare as it was the very 1st flumpool song I heard years ago when I began supporting them . It's also the longest track in A Spring Breath but that did not stop me from liking the new version just as much as the original .
New material wise , the new songs are different from each other which could be a good or bad thing . A Spring Breath frankly is not catchy on 1st listen but it's a grower as time goes .
Aside from the concept album's structure which I prefer flumpool spiltting the new songs & newly recorded tracks into 2 separate parts , I like what I've heard in A Spring Breath . I'm sure flumpool could have released a standalone mini album but for them to re-record some of their older but still great songs , it's something I appreciate as it showcase how much they've grown musically .
With A Spring Breath being their 1st independent release after they left AMUSE last year , I look forward to see what else they have plan in store in due time .
CD
CD + Blu-ray
1) FAQ (Instrumental)
2) Question Time
3) Tokei Mawari no Torque
4) Kami mo Hotoke mo
5) Koi wa Hachamecha
6) Scorn
7) Omoi Dori Janakute mo
8) Setsuna no Ai
9) Jounetsu wa Oboete Iru
10) Treasure Pleasure
11) Give me your eyes
12) BEFORE the DAWN
GRANRODEO's last studio album release was 2019's FAB LOVE .
4 singles , 1 digital release song & 2 B-sides are included in Question .
- Tokei Mawari no Torque ; theme song for the live action Bungo Stray Dogs the Movie: BEAST that was released on the same day as Tokei Mawari no Torque's digital release ie. 7th Jan
- Kami mo Hotoke mo ; 33rd single ; opening theme no. for the Saiyuki RELOAD -ZEROIN- anime
- Scorn ; B-side in 31st single Jounetsu wa Oboete Iru
- Setsuna no Ai ; 30th single ; opening theme no. for the 3rd season of the Bungo Stray Dogs anime
- Jounetsu wa Oboete Iru ; 31st single ; opening theme no. for the Baki anime
- Treasure Pleasure ; 32nd single ; opening theme no. for the Hanma Baki anime
- BEFORE the DAWN ; B-side in 33rd single Kami mo Hotoke mo
Lead album promo track Question Time has a video made .
Question might be a weird album title but I suppose the reason why GRANRODEO chose to name their latest album offering as so is because there's no telling what type of music genre you will listen to (a question mark before you listen to each song) which could explain why the whole album is very musically diverse .
The singles that preceded the album's release is already evident of that & so does the limited new number of album material made available .
Album wise I started listening to GRANRODEO since their still excellent 2014 / 6th album Karma to Labyrinth so to me , on 1st listen Question sounds inferior as compared to their past albums especially since Question contains their least number of new songs to date .
Luckily despite the very little number of new material in Question ie. 4 of them , they're all pretty good and I personally really like the Latin influenced Koi wa Hachamecha & the very hard synth driven Give me your eyes (despite the strange song title) .
B-sides wise , I for once don't agree that Jounetsu wa Oboete Iru's Scorn & Kami mo Hotoke mo's BEFORE the DAWN should have been included in Question . Instead Setsuna no Ai's Forte should have been included & I quite like Treasure Pleasure's Ao Iro Sensation .
On whole some might view Question as a step down from GRANRODEO's previous studio albums . I'm sure if they didn't include the 2 B-sides & Tokei Mawari no Torque , this might somehow balance things out & that more new album songs will be included instead .
That said hopefully for GRANRODEO's next 10th album , they wouldn't follow the same structure as what they did for Question .