“Kaikan Everyday” counts with one of the best songs in the franchise and, at the same time, one of the worst title tracks in their repertoire, making it impossible for B-PROJECT to emulate last year’s success with the chart topping “S-Kyuu Paradise”.
Title: 快感エブリディ Label: 2pb Release date: 16/07/2018 Genre: J-Pop/ R&B
Tracklist:
1. 快感エブリディ 2. After all this time 3. 快感エブリディ (off vocal) 4. After all this time (off vocal)
Track by track analysis:
1 – Kaikan Everyday
We kick off this release with the upbeat pop tune, “Kaikan Everyday”. As with any B-PROJECT song, synths play a major role in the instrumental, setting the tone for the song, usually upbeat (although there are some exceptions). Arpeggiated, pulsing and saw synths are joined by a hi-hat + kick beat, distorted and gated guitar licks and a barely noticeable delicate piano melody.
Washy synths join later on to add some depth to the instrumental, turning into a breath of fresh air in the middle of these many high-tension synths. Contrary to most B-PROJECT’s songs released so far, this song is slower paced, which, for a song including 4 groups, means that the song is also longer than usual. The instrumental has slow paced sections, mainly the verses, while the choruses have an increase of tempo to fit with the high-tension instrumental. The bridge features the trademark dubstep-ish break that is included in most songs in the franchise. Vocal parts were distributed equally between and within groups. This time around there’s solo time for everyone, even if only for a moment, not enough to make anyone stand out. A bland instrumental and forgettable vocal performances make it a mediocre song. 3/5
2 – After all this time
“After all this time” comes to steal the show with its simple R&B ballad sound. Melancholy takes over this instrumental and, in return, we not only got one of the best instrumentals in the franchise, but also one of the best performances by B-PROJECT so far. The instrumental is minimalistic, toning down their trademark high-tension and putting synths on background rounds instead of in the forefront. The instrumental benefits from this change of pace, making the best of the lead longing piano melody, guitar licks and a throwback rhodes piano + washy synth pad mix in the verses. The verses are ethereal and delicate, carefully setting the stage for the sweet chorus. Adding to this sweet instrumental are the stunning vocals that make this song all the more emotional. Everyone embraced a lower, sweet register to fit with the song’s mood, ending up making it a highlight. 5/5
Final rating: 
It’s noticeable that B-PROJECT’s producers were aiming for a new addictive tune, a chart topper with the title track. Nevertheless, the instrumental has too many things happening at the same time and there is no real focus put on one specific element – a basic thing when it comes to mixing a song -, making the whole instrumental far from memorable. There’s too many synths looping in the background, overlapping each other, pushing the listener’s attention to all places. Even if the goal was to make the listener focus on the song as a full piece, it wasn’t achieved. The instrumental is generic at best – the franchise has clearly released better songs with even better instrumentals in the past -, the mixing is confusing and there’s nothing that sparks an interest on it like “S-Kyuu Paradise”, released in 2017, had. And just like the instrumental, the vocals aren’t memorable.
In a franchise known for their up-tempo, dubstep-ish dance tunes, “After all this time” is a well needed breather to show the vocal quality within each group, as well as a mellower and sweeter side to the franchise. This kind of music, that demands a more technical e certainly more emotional performance, certainly fits best with most singers in the franchise. For example, Tetsuya Kakihara, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Kazuki Kato, Natsuki Hanae, Toshiki Masuda, Takuya Eguchi and Shoya Chiba fit well with R&B, music genre that demands attention gripping performances filled with emotion. It was also a good opportunity for other members, not known for excelling with this kind of music, to show their cards. Some got to show them, others shied a bit.
Issues and inconsistencies aside, “Kaikan Everyday” is still has its bright spots. The beautiful R&B ballad “After all this time” makes up for the underwhelming title track in a release that had everything to be a fantastic entry, but unfortunately failed to deliver.
“Kaikan Everyday” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
[…] We reviewed this release. You can find our review HERE. […]