Mamoru Miyano “The Love” (Review)

By
Vanessa Silva
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Mamoru Miyano has released his 6th album “The Love”. As has been the tendency, Mamoru has written the lyrics for four of tracks in the album. As the singer has mentioned in an interview, “The Love” is more focused on the jazz and R&B genre, therefore we can expect some interesting tracks. This album features tracks from previous singles, such as SHOUT!, HOW CLOSE YOU ARE, テンペスト and The Birth.

More details regarding the album.

Regular edition
Title: The Love
Label: King Records
Release date: 02/08/2017
Genre: J-Pop/Dance

Tracklist:

01 EVER LOVE
02 SHOUT!
03 恋されガール
04 Now and Forever
05 Uhh
06 HOW CLOSE YOU ARE
07 Space Travellers
08 テンペスト
09 僕のマニュアル
10 愛溢れる
11 The Birth
12 POWER OF LOVE

Track by track analysis:

1- EVER LOVE

A playful piano accompanies Mamoru‘s vocal performance without outshining it, while the drums and dragging synths prove us that EVER LOVE has a lot more that just a little EDM influence. The chorus explodes into a up beat and cheerful track delivered by the violins, synths and the same percussion work from the intro. Mamoru’s mellow vocals make this track somewhat soothing. Although not always perceptible the bass plays a major role in this track’s instrumental piece bringing the synths and violins together into a perfect harmonious track. As Jin Nakamura‘s trademark the synth drums and the synths are present and to add to the great instrumental piece we have great lyrics written by Mamoru himself. 4.5/5

2- SHOUT! 

[as previously reviewed]

Kicking off this single we have SHOUT!, a track with an intro mainly focused on the synths and the synthetic drums that scream of NEW ORDER, an easy explanation is giving to us as soon as we see that STY was the one who produced the track. With the fast tempo synthetic drums, the bass and guitar plus the piano, we have the main instrumental piece laid for us. This track shows us a familiar yet comforting side of Mamoru‘s songs for the fans. SHOUT! has some space for Mamo to make the best out of his crystal clear high pitched notes, always on point. 4.5/5

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw3Op7BNhao?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]
 
3- 恋されガール
With a rather unorthodox intro more rock oriented this track surprises us. This track has a lot of english in it and he fact that it is perceptible proves that Mamoru‘s english skills are getting better with each release. With some synths that overwhelm the guitar and bass in the chorus we have a mix between the rock and electronica genre, showing a different approach from the singer. This track follows the same trend as EVER LOVE as it is up beat. This track even has a guitar solo, and though the chorus has a more rock feel to it, the dragging synths do in fact add a little jazz to it.  The ending certainly has a jazzy feel to it. 5/5 

4- Now and Forever
Now and Forever has a strong presence of EDM in the instrumental piece. The intro is lead by some synths and Mamo‘s vocal performance as if he was in a concert as it sounded echo-y. The bass and the synths add a little mysterious touch to the instrumental piece as the synth drums and pads along the pianos make this track different from all the previous ones. Now and Forever goes on a whole different level, with an instrumental piece overflowing with mystery and sexiness. Although this track could have ended up in disaster, it seems that the it was created taking into account Mamo’s potential, hence why he performed it so well. Needless to say that the singer’s add libs were amazingly delivered to the point it sent chill through our spine. It is interesting how the track’s intro and ending are the same, it is almost as of we experienced a full-circle type of moment. 5/5

5- Uhh
Uhh delivers a lounge-y instrumental as well as jazzy lead by the e.piano and  bass making the instrumental piece of this track simple yet interesting enough to make us focused on it, though Mamoru‘s vocal performance in high pitched notes without missing a thing certainly make us more than delightful and amazed by his talent. Mamoru and a jazz genre track have now become a perfect match made in heaven. 5/5

[as previously reviewed]

How Close You Are, the ending theme of Ajin:Demi-Human, has violins as the main focus in the intro with some pads as backup, but we are mistaken if we think that’s it for the instrumental, we quickly have an acoustic guitar making its first steps in this slow tempo track afterwards.  The chorus really makes one remember the power ballads from the 80’s/90’s. Although the instrumental is simple it really is well arranged and it really suits Mamoru. The violins in the outro are also good and even though the instrumental is minimalist it still is a refreshing one. The best track in the single. 5/5

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB_1fJlc1k4?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]

7- Space Travellers
With a grand intro delivered by the orchestral elements show us that this track is off to a good start. Space Travellers was composed by DJ first, and this being the first time Mamo is working with this composer it is actually a good change of scenario, even though it might be a little difficult to like the fast tempo instrumental powered by the synths, drums and bass. The chorus however is a different story, the instrumental becomes less synthetic and instead it presents another side of the the instrumental piece, a cleaner version of it. Once again, Mamo‘s vocal performance is worthy of all the highlight possible as he does not miss a single note. 4.5/5

[as previously reviewed]

Tempest” is a well known song among the fans of shoujo anime series “Uta no Prince Sama Legend Star“. A simple piano melody paves the way for Miyano‘s vocals to shine, building up the tension, ultimately exploding in the exciting electro-pop chorus in which strings, bass, synths and piano blend in to deliver a powerful melody. It’s actually a nice change of pace to find Elements Garden delivering something other than those overhyped dance tracks that have turned into completely bland and expected flicks. This tracks’ outro is something so beautiful that we really recommend you to pay close attention to it. Vocally Miyano tackles this track with a whole lot of falsetto and high notes leaving us in awe. It might be a mellower dance pop track but it still has that excitement that only Miyano‘s songs have, and his golden touch is there for everyone to hear – just pay attention to the stunning lyrics. 5/5

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agSY_LEEqcE?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]

9- 僕のマニュアル
僕のマニュアル has jazzy hints in its instrumental piece, resulting from a perfect blend of the bass and slow piano as well as the simple drums. This track has a rather playful and entertaining instrumental piece. As the track itself is simple Mamo has all the opportunities in the world to shine. The saxophone and the guitar add a little extra to the instrumental piece that is quite different from the usual, but nonetheless a good choice. 5/5

10-愛溢れる
The acoustic guitar creates the path for Mamo‘s vocal performance and the piano. 愛溢れる has a minimalist instrumental piece which is perfect for Mamoru to show how well he sings while showering us with his sweet and soothing singing skills that mix well with the strings playing in the background as they merge themselves with the rest of the instrumental getting the spotlight from he piano which slowly becomes the lead of the instrumental piece. 5/5

[as previously reviewed]

Starting it off quietly with soothing strings in the background against a piano melody, “The Birth” soon evolves into an alternative pop-rock tune. Addictive guitar riffs guide us through the song to the unusual pre-chorus in which synths and metalic drums take the front seat (but only for a couple of seconds). On the other side, the chorus is all we could ever ask from Miyano, it’s powerful but without being noisy, and blends rock elements with the emotional strings playing in the background. Regarding the vocal performance we can only point out good things. Miyano‘s high notes and falsetto never fail to impress us. “The Birth” made us excited for what’s next, that is for sure. 5/5

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR0aAaLJDPg?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]
12- Power of Love

Power of Love is a jazzy track through and through, a genre that with this album has become yet another one which Mamoru call easily pull off without sound out of place and still managing to shine. A little unusual from what we usual listen from STY, this instrumental is slow tempo and focused on the piano and bass while Mamo delivers a high-quality vocal performance matching the track. Power of Love is another self-written track of the singer. 5/5

Final rating:

The Love is certainly a jazzy, R&B oriented album with a personal touch to some of the tracks, namely those whose lyrics were written by Mamoru itself, meaning EVER LOVE, テンペスト, The Birth and Power of Love.

Between all the tracks in the album, 愛溢れる was one of the tracks which surprised us the most for good reasons. Not only did Mamo give his best performance possible vocal wise, but the instrumental piece was perfectly composed in order to bright out the singer’s full potential.

Space Travellers was also another track that highlighted the fact that the singer can indeed pull off numerous genres without failing to do so. In fact Space Travellers makes us recall tracks like Golden Night, a track which the main focus is the heavy and prominent presence of EDM elements.

Aside from the electronica oriented tracks, we must bring forth 恋されガール as it was a track that completely got us. Not only does this track have a rock genre, not so common for the singer, but it also fit the singer like a glove, which is not surprising if we recall previous tracks such as the famous Orpheus, a track with some strong rock elements.

All in all, The Love was a success, in fact this has been one of the best albums the singer has released so far, so it is only fair to expect the next releases to be just as good or even better than this one.

“The Love” is available for purchase on CDJAPAN for all overseas fans.

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1 COMMENT

  1. He is amazing. I just finished listening to this cd. His voice has such a broad range. He can sing in so many different styles. He can “rock out” but also sing a ballad like no one else. My favorite song is Now and Forever. The entire CD is quite good.. I agree it is definitely 5 stars. .I wish his music was more easily available in the USA.

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