Gakuto Kajiwara powers his way through with a confident and complete debut single in “A Walk”.
Title: A Walk Release date: 25/11/2020 Label: AVEX Genre: Rock / Pop-Rock
Tracklist:
1 - A Walk 2 - 橙 3 - A Walk (Inst) 4 - 橙 (Inst)
Track by track analysis:
1 – A Walk
Distant guitar riffs set a rather melancholic tone to “A Walk”. The song quickly changes dynamics, going louder with shredding guitar riffs, a thunderous bass line, and fast-paced, punk-rock-inspired drums.
The verses are rather slow-paced, giving the spotlight to Gakuto Kajiwara’s vocals. The transition to the chorus is pretty smooth, reaching a chorus that explodes in tension and goes loud on all fronts.
This is the kind of song that will work insanely well in a live setting, hyping up the audience.
On the vocal end, Gakuto Kajiwara delivers and exciting performance filled with power and a lot of quality that caught me off guard (I was not familiar with his singing style, technique or tone prior to this release).
He has a rather raspy twist to his singing that works pretty well in the quieter sections of this song and can blast through a chorus as intense as this one without any issues.
Pretty awesome performance right here.
2 – 橙
“Daidai” wraps up this release in acoustic fashion.
This is an emotional song with a sort of ballad-esque touch. The drums are riveting while the bass is pensive about each note that it delivers.
Acoustic guitar riffs, passionate, emotional electric guitar riffs give off a melancholic and warm vibe that I really enjoy.
The chorus is simple but gripping and you’ll find yourself singing along to those emotional lyrics in no time.
Gakuto Kajiwara showcases a sweet falsetto and a lot of consistency in his mid-tones, getting fancy in the later stages of the song with complete control over his range and technique.
Highlight of this release.
Final considerations
Gakuto Kajiwara goes the rock route for his debut single, “A Walk”, something that I can’t help but to get excited about (few are the seiyuu that, as solo artists, go the rock route).
And he does so in such a fancy and professional way that impressed me. It was as if I was listening to a seasoned singer from a J-rock band such as Nothing’s Carved In Stone (an awesome band, I welcome you to check it).
Usually, rookie solo artists of seiyuu background don’t have this quality and comfort in debut releases. It takes a while to build up that comfort and quality. And here it is Gakuto Kajiwara, confident about his singing skills from the get-go.
Massive props to him because his confidence made his performances connect really easily with me.
“Daidai” is the highlight of this release. A sweet acoustic song with a melancholy driving it forward.
Kajiwara’s vocals shine in this track, with a pretty good show of his control and technique.
All in all, Gakuto Kajiwara’s “A Walk” is a solid debut single that lays the first seeds of what can be a really good solo career as a rock/pop-rock performer.
[Disclaimer: Since Kajiwara is signed with AVEX pictures, THTFHQ won’t publish links to CDJAPAN’s store (or any store) as all are abiding by the label’s request not to export any of AVEX pictures‘ artist releases. More info on this can be found–HERE]
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