Review | Makoto Furukawa "Chizu Ga Nakute Mo Modoru Kara"

Makoto Furukawa is back a year after making an astounding solo debut. The emotion-filled Chizu ga nakute mo modoru kara is more than worth the wait.

furukawa makoto single regular 1 — Regular

Title: 地図が無くても戻るから (Chizu ga nakute mo modoru kara)
Label: Lantis
Release date: 22/05/2019
Genre: Jazz/Ballad

Tracklist:

1 - 地図が無くても戻るから
2 - 道化師と♠︎（sadness）
3 - 地図が無くても戻るから -Instrumental-
4 - 道化師と♠︎（sadness） -Instrumental-

Track by track analysis:

1. 地図が無くても戻るから (Chizu ga nakute mo modoru kara)

A melancholic piano melody serves as the backdrop to Furukawa‘s emotional, vibrato-filled vocals. It is odd to find a ballad as the opening track to a release so this is a welcomed breath of fresh air, a rare find.

Chizu ga nakute mo modoru kara adds strings, slow-paced snare-driven drums, and simple, melodic guitar riffs to turn this song into a full-fledged ballad.

Furukawa‘s vocals easily outshine the instrumental, with his powerful vibrato and control contributing for the spin-chilling performance of his. Stellar performance.

2. 道化師と♠︎（sadness）

The alluring touch of jazz with fancy vocals on top. The perfect mix. Jazzy piano and fancy brass melodies introduce us to this exciting tune.

Between the 6/4 beat to the jazzy piano melodies, funky guitar riffs, groovy bass line, and fancy brass – and alluring saxophone and cello -, to even the several tempo changes, this song is a blast.

As far as vocals go, Furukawa delivers an outstanding performance, matching the fast speed of the instrumental while adding his own flair to this song. A thoroughly impressive performance of yet another memorable song in his repertoire.

Final considerations

Fancy is back. Unique music is back. Furukawa is back.

Chizu ga nakute mo modoru kara is not an easy song to capture in words. It is so emotional yet so simple. So raw and yet so complex. This is a powerful song, a powerful ballad at that. But there are no words that can perfectly capture the emotions that are on it or how impressive Furukawa‘s performance is. Our suggestion: please listen to it and let yourself be immersed in all those emotions.

Dokeshi to♠︎（sadness）wraps up this single on a perfect note. Makoto Furakawa does shine in jazz music and his lyrics, as it is starting to be a trend, are always fun and playful. The song is a bundle of fun and class, topped by his stellar vocals.

This is an unconventional single, completely straying away from everything else being released by fellow male seiyuu, currently solo artists. He keeps pushing himself to deliver consistent performances and craft lyrics that are as odd as fun as their instrumentals.

He is one-of-a-kind in the music business with an equally one-of-a-kind voice and talent to go with. We can’t stress enough how impressive this single is.

All in all, Chizu ga nakute mo modoru kara is that one release that you should not pass on.

Chizu ga nakute mo modoru kara is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.