For those who were wondering, this seems to be the last release from the “Forbidden Star” project units (given that there hasn’t been any updates regarding this project). Black Verry make their comeback with the new single “MISTAKE Wah NOISY“, which managed to solidify the unit’s position as the best one among the “Forbidden Star” units.
Title: MISTAKE Wah NOISY
Label: Rejet
Release date: 25/01/2017
Genre: J-Pop/Rock
Tracklist:
1 - MISTAKE Wah NOISY 2 - 浮名 SILENT MINORITY 3 - DRAMA TRACK 「Communication Breakthrough」
Track by track analysis:
1 – MISTAKE Wah NOISY
The title track takes an interesting turn, making Black Verry endeavor in jazzy rock. Despite the fact that this an overly common trend in Japan – mixing rock elements with pop lyrics and some sprinkles of jazz – Black Verry, like most of the groups that have attempted this genre, succeeded. What’s better yet is that this group actually has two members that are pretty familiar with this specific mix. Kenji Nojima, as an independent artist, is rooted in rock and jazzy, genres that make his vocals stand out with ease. On the other side we find the expert, Toshiyuki Toyonaga. Looking into his repertoire is easy to spot his jazz roots in a wide majority of his work. So we have pop-rock with a bit of jazz as well as two well versed members in the genre. What about the other two we’re missing? Both Uchida (with sweeter, lower toned vocals) and Nishiyama (higher toned vocals) fit with it – exhibit A is the chorus itself. While Toyonaga and Nojima are showcasing their vibrato, both of them are standing out more than them. Uchida even sounds at times like Toshiki Masuda (in the pre-chorus) and Nishiyama has improved so much to the point that he sounds so good, even next to highly skilled singers. This song is fun and entertaining with a sprinkle of playful jazz in the formula. 5/5
2 – 浮名 SILENT MINORITY
And because not everything needs to be upbeat and playful, we’re presented with a mid-tempo ballad. 浮名 SILENT MINORITY lends the help from strings, slow, splashy drums and jazzy guitar riffs to complete its instrumental. Both the intro and the chorus parts are incredibly well crafted – please pay attention to those – the vocal execution throughout the song is also top quality, this time around with Nojima standing out a bit more easily in the chorus with his mid-toned register. Uchida also did a stunning job for this track, basically owning the chorus and his parts in the verses. Overall good vocal performance in one interesting ballad. 4.5/5
Final rating:
This time around their formula was slightly changed. While still keeping their trademark pop-rock sound that has been a delight so far, Black Verry incorporated jazz to give it a more danceable and classy feel to it. The vocals are almost on par between the members – but we’re already noticing some growth from both Uchida and Nishiyama that stood out on this single with ease. MISTAKE Wah NOISY is a strong release to complete this first (last?) leg of music releases from the Forbidden Star project.
“MISTAKE Wah NOISY” is available for purchase on CDJAPAN for all overseas fans.
