May 2024 saw the wrap up of Tsukipro’s Ano Koro CD series with Koki Eto’s “Habatakeru Hikari”, Dear Vocalist’s comeback for its 8th CD season, HEADLINER with LUMIERE’s “UnCoNTRoL”, Tetsuya Kakihara was ready to impress with “Give It To Me” and more.
This and more in this article – and extended video – of MONTHLY REVIEW March 2024.
This month’s episode is all about the music released in March 2024.
May 2024 saw the wrap up of Tsukipro’s Ano Koro CD series with Koki Eto’s “Habatakeru Hikari”, Dear Vocalist’s comeback for its 8th CD season, HEADLINER with LUMIERE’s “UnCoNTRoL”, and GOAT & BAD SKUNK arrived with a powerful sound in “Gray Sheep EP02”.
As such, the standout releases in May 2024 were:
- Koki Eto “Habatakeru Hikari”
- LUMIERE “UnCoNTRoL”
- GOAT & BAD SKUNK “Gray Sheep EP02”
In the video version of this article – which covers many more CDs and features your comments – I also bring my impressions about a few CDs I recently reviewed.
Make sure to watch the episode!
Koki Eto “Habatakeru Hikari”
“Habatakeru Hikari” is ridiculously good and cinematic, putting the listener within that soundscape in which there is a bamboo flute leading the way and birds chirping in the background. It seems as if you’re in the middle of the forest gazing upon a waterfall while immersing yourself in the nature around you.
It feels raw and more meditational – relaxing, even – in vibe than anything that Growth released by far – and even among its members in this series – which is quite the surprise.
Shunichi Toki‘s emotional range and control are at home in this performance. He brings a gentleness to his performance, slowly lullabying the listener in the verses before taking you on an ethereal journey with his beautiful vocals in the chorus.
Koki Eto’s “Habatakeru Hikari” is a mesmerizing and ethereal conclusion to the “Ano koro no bokura wa” CD series, wrapping it up with a technical performance that will even render you to tears.
What he delivers in this song is… unbelievable.
LUMIERE “UnCoNTRoL”
For those following RE-O-DO – and by extension, LUMIERE – you will notice this right off the bat “uNCoNTRoL” doesn’t even come close to sounding like a song of theirs.
It’s so different, disruptive, and, in a way, imposing that it strays away from the band’s original sound big time. I instantly fell in love with it. He brings a bit of CIEL’s touch (the big focus on strings in his music) and Judah’s straightforward lyrics paired up with an aggressive instrumental.
“Bake Neko” certainly is an oddball and this time around, understanding it fully will require diving into the drama tracks in this CD but you’ll quickly notice his lowkey love declaration in it (and a bit more than that if you read between the lines).
All in all, RE-O-DO appears more straightforward than ever about his feelings in “uNCoNTRoL” and openly declares his love for you – the listener – in cat-and-mouse mind games in “Bake neko”.
GOAT & BAD SKUNK “Gray Sheep EP02”
Gray Sheep makes yet another impactful release with GOAT and BAD SKUNK boasting extended lineups and delivering songs that perfectly capture their essence in “Gray Sheep EP02“.
BAD SKUNK falls a bit short in terms of the quality of the instrumental – which ends up being too crazy and unpredictable, even by their standards – but shows a potential to leave your jaws dropping in awe if they polish their sound paired up with their impressive power on the vocal end.
On the other hand, GOAT stole the show yet again with an impressive jazz-pop tune in “Guilty baby”, working an extended vocal lineup and sounding like they’d been doing it since their debut song.
The Gray Sheep franchise is going hard on its music and, honestly, I’m enjoying how disruptive they’ve been so far!
What is THTFHQ’s MONTHLY REVIEW?
As the name says, Monthly Review is a monthly feature in which I find yet another excuse to talk about male seiyuu music and 2D groups.
This is a feature in which I get on camera – unscripted (and usually looking a bit tired lol) – covering the most impressive/buzzworthy releases in any given month – and hidden gems that not many people may end up paying attention to -, counting on your participation as well in all 4 corners:
- Best of the month (3 best/buzzworthy/gems of every given month as picked by me + 3 suggested by THTFHQ readers
- Monthly Choice (3 CD suggestions by me – regardless of when the CDs were released – and 3 suggestions by THTFHQ readers)
- Music in the Horizon (a look at next month’s releases – it mixes my and your comments on upcoming releases by male seiyuu artists, bands, units, or 2D groups)
- Ask Vanessa (ask me anything about male seiyuu or 2D music, if you don’t ask, it turns into a “Soma Saito” corner)
Do you want to participate in MONTHLY REVIEW?
This show is a collaborative work between you and me, sharing our love for male seiyuu and 2D music projects. Don’t be shy to participate.
All this to say, don’t worry about not having perfect English writing or the sort, we all make mistakes and even I am not a native speaker – and typos are really my bread and butter here on the website – so don’t let that stop you from participating, should you want to!
As always, several times during the month, the survey to participate in next month’s episode is shared on THTFHQ’s social media (Facebook and Twitter) and on THTFHQ’s YouTube channel‘s community tab (make sure to subscribe to not miss the notification, or lurk if you don’t want to subscribe).
You can participate as many times as you want, I only ask that you avoid submitting the same answers in the various entries you make in this feature.
The goal is to feature as many CDs as possible, not to talk only about 1 or 2 CDs.
Please remember that these episodes are much more enjoyable with your insights. Every month I share a survey on social media for you to leave your impressions on new music.
Although only 3 people are chosen for each corner (less if there were fewer submissions), know I read them all. I read everything and keep being impressed by your musical sensibility!
THTFHQ’s community is filled with talented individuals, fans of good music, and voice acting. You geek as hard – or even more – about both things as I do!
If the links are not working, CLICK HERE to check the video.
