Growth‘s Kouki Eto (Shunichi Toki) and Mamoru Fujimura (Junta Terashima) team up for the group’s first take on the RE:START series. And in Growth‘s good fashion, “Toki no hazama ni” is a stellar song for the books.
Title: ALIVE RE:START series vol.1 Koki&Mamoru "Toki no hazama ni" Label: Tsukipro/Movic Release date: 29/06/2018 Genre: Pop
Tracklist:
1 - 時のはざまに (Toki no hazama ni) 2 - 時のはざまに -off vocal-
Track analysis:
1 – 時のはざまに
The sound of winding up a clock prompts the instrumental to quietly make its entrance. Slowly, the listener is introduced to a delicate piano melody that sets a delicate tone for this song. Pizzicato strings and a harp join in in the verses, while a piano melody gets increasingly dramatic, setting up a growing tension for the breathtaking chorus. Marching snare drums, a choir, dramatic strings and an acoustic guitar are enough to create and shape the sound to create this fantastic and rich soundscape. This is exactly the kind of instrumental that shows well Growth‘s trademark picturesque, lyrical charm. “Toki no hazama ni” will draw the listener in within the first notes, only to let go when time stops and the song comes to a close. The listener won’t help but to be in awe with the crafty way in which such a delicate instrumental ended up being this powerful and emotionally charged.
On the vocal end Growth have Koki (Shunichi Toki) and Mamoru (Junta Terashima), a duo of contrasting charms, covering completely different registers, yet proving that they have great chemistry between them with this breathtaking performance. Their harmonies will make chills run down your spine and their back-and-forth in the verses ended up balancing well Terashima‘s low and gentle vocals with Toki‘s powerful, mid-toned vocals. Their performance was filled with emotion which, to the addition of the instrumental, contributed to quickly capture the listener’s attention. Their individual performances were pretty much at the high standards all Growth fans are used to. Toki covered a lot of his scale, although not putting much use to his higher register (wasn’t necessary for his performance to be impactful), on the other hand, it seems like there has been some improvement on Terashima‘s side. We all know that he’s a fairly good singer, with good control over his vocals, however, he doesn’t tend to stand out. And that usually happens when Growth‘s songs are tailored for their tenors instead of his baritone vocals. However, there are other instances in which he does get the spotlight but ends up not making much of it. For this performance he made sure to impress. He presented his fans with an all-rounded performance and shone at any given opportunity, harmonizing with ease, smoothing his way thorough his solo parts and adding some (even if barely noticeable) falsetto.
As you can tell by the tone of this song (or the lyrics), Growth‘s theme for the RE:START series is “time“. And with that theme in mind, Growth couldn’t help but do what they do best: create a fantastical soundscape and play around with the listener’s emotions through their flawless vocal performances. No point in trying to find flaws in this performance because, truth is, there aren’t any. This is another one of those Growth performances that will leave you speechless. This is the excellence and quality that they have used their fans to.
All in all, “Toki no hazama ni” is an absolutely stunning song, the best so far in the RE:START series.
Final rating:
ALIVE Growth 「RE:START」 Series 1 is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
[…] We reviewed this release. You can find our review HERE. […]