This is a lovely single, if nothing spectacular. AZU's vocals are pretty and sweet, and the music can stand up to repeated listens. (I listened to this single every day for a week and a half straight, and I'm still excited when I hear "Broken Heart" start up. If that's not a test, I don't know what is... and you have unreasonably high standards.) My favorite track is "Tsuyoku Tsuyoku," which has a great balance between the heavier bass and lighter synth elements. Other than the instrumentals (none of which should have been added - they drag the single down), all the tracks are good, but "Ring M&M" is probably the least spectacular. Although it's well performed, it's just a very basic pop song without a lot to recommend it. Still, if you like pop, you could do worse than take a listen.
Monkey Majik - westview
There is a single perfect word for this album: laid-back. (Yes, hyphenated words count as a single word.) Although it struggles a little at the beginning to find its footing, starting around "Yume no Sekai" the album just chills right out and every track is good. When you listen to "westview" you can tell that Monkey Majik was on vacation on some tiny Grecian island in the sun when they recorded it. Not all the tracks are as laid back as the others - "Disco Girl," for example, kicks up the energy a bit - but 90% of the tracks are acoustic-lead and have a John Mayer-eqsue easiness about them. My favorite is probably "Everything is going to be alright," which combines the chill with a little extra upbeat energy. This is music to listen to as you drive down a long highway along the beach, or through a long stretch of corn and wheat fields running golden to the horizon. I thoroughly approve.
Yaida Hitomi - Simple is Best
Yaida Hitomi gives us some rock with her chill. "Simple is Best" is a good, simple rock song with easy elements that would probably be boring if she didn't put so much of herself into the performance. It's high-energy, has high re-listen value, and doesn't take itself too seriously or try to make itself more intense than it needs to be. "Wakannai," on the other hand, is a quiet, warm song. The feeling it gives me reminds me of the country albums that my dad played when we went on long roadtrips to my grandma's house when I was a kid. Maybe Trisha Yearwood's self-titled album (yeah, from 1991!). I haven't heard the album in years, so I have no idea if they're musically similar, but when I listen to "Wakannai," I feel like I should be curled up in the back seat of the van, a big fluffy blanket all around me, my brothers and sister asleep a few inches away, while I stare out at the grass and road and signs and sky flashing past my window and listen to a quiet and sincere country ballad.
Oh, you don't like country?
Well you can shut your face.
Except your ears. Open them to listen to "Wakannai." It's good for you.
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