“Tsuki to Taiyou no Uta” is out, bringing to the spotlight a set of songs that explores Kenichi Suzumura’s strengths as an artist.
Title: 月と太陽のうた Label: Lantis Release date: 13/05/15 Genre: J-Pop/Rock
Tracklist:
1．月のうた 2．太陽のうた
Track by track analysis:
1．月のうた
“Tsuki no uta” is a slow-tempo ballad kicking of this single.
Resorting to a combination of acoustic guitars, strings, minimal drums, harp, piano, and bass the instrumental keeps things simple and sweet.
With such a mesmerizing instrumental it’s safe to say that it leaves Suzumura with lots of room to showcase his vocals – be it with his vibrato or with his mid-to-low notes.
A perfect blend between a mild instrumental, more focused on bringing out the vocals. The vocals are more than up to the challenge, in the end turning this song into one of Suzumura‘s most interesting ballads.
2．太陽のうた
Looking at the reverse of the coin we find “Taiyo no Uta“, a track that picks up everything that the previous track cast aside from what we call “the trademark Suzumura rock“.
Electric guitars, splashy drums, strong bass, adding up strings and the piano are back with an extra punch. With everything set in motion, “Taiyo no Uta” shows us a completely different side in this single.
It’s clearly livelier than the previous track, resorting to a strong instrumental and sharp melodic vocals. A track that impresses the complete 180 it gives to the single but still fails to impress any more than that.
Final considerations
In this peculiar single listeners will find two tracks completely different from each other in tone as well as presentation.
Sun and moon are the main themes for this single, with a rock tune and a ballad – respectively – representing those.
The milder, slow tempo “Tsuki no Uta“, impresses with its simplicity while “Taiyo no Uta” fails to deliver something meaningful when it’s considerably “crowded” in its instrumental in comparison with the first track – proving that sometimes simplicity is key to make music.
Vocally Suzumura sounds great be it in the slow tempo emotional ballads, as well as in the rocking songs. Overall this is a balanced pop-rock release.
“Tsuki to Taiyou no Uta” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
