IDOLiSH7‘s Nagi Rokuya (Takuya Eguchi) brings summer vibes into the 12 Songs Gift series. “June is Natural” is a simple, acoustic pop tune that is the perfect soundtrack for this summer.
For those that have been out of the loop: “12 Songs Gift” is a series of solo songs that started being released in this past January. A total of 12 singles, one for each member of IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER and Re:vale, are scheduled to be released throughout the year. The solo songs releases coincide with the character’s birthdays.
Title: June is Natural Label: Lantis Release date: 20/06/2018 Genre: Pop/Tropical-pop
Tracklist:
1 - June is Natural
Track analysis:
1 – June is Natural
“June is Natural” is a pleasant addition to the 12 Songs Gift series. Most would expect Nagi’s solo song to be exuberant and upbeat, yet what we got was a unexpected gentle, laidback vibe, courtesy of slow paced sampled drums, summery marimba-ish synths and sweet acoustic guitar riffs. Soothing synth pads, a funky bass line and delicate strings added the final touches to this quiet, “feel good” song. Everything mentioned above is kept as minimalistic as possible. This summery soundscape is perfected with the addition of waves sfx to the instrumental. This is such a great touch to this song, fitting perfectly with the song’s vibe as well adding a relaxing touch to it. This is the very first instrumental in the 12 Songs Gift series that has this unique vibe. “June is Natural” certainly adds more variety to the already interesting series. A side note: if somehow, just like myself, anything related to tropical house puts you off, don’t worry. The marimba synths were incorporated in a tasteful way into this instrumental. The end result is a sweet sounding melody that plays well with the gentle vibe of this song.
Now, onto the vocal performance. Takuya Eguchi is performing as Nagi Rokuya and, as everyone knows, singing as Nagi requires forgetting good Japanese diction and adding a whole lot of awkward English phrases into the lyrics. While all of these things made his performance unique and quirky, what stood out in Eguchi‘s performance was the actual gentleness in which he sang this song. You can feel the warmth and emotions in his performance, even if it doesn’t sound like he’s doing much on the vocal end (no flourishes, ad-libs, high notes or anything fancy). Eguchi delivered a confident and soothing performance that will catch a lot of fans of the series off guard.
All in all, “June is Natural” comes as a surprise and will win you over in not time. It brought a summery touch to the 12 Songs Gift yet, instead of going all out with a clichéd, upbeat sound, everything was toned down, an acoustic guitar took over, and we got the most soothing song in the series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1jqylvvJm0&feature=youtu.be
Final rating:
This song is available for purchase on Online music stores (for overseas fans it’s available on iTunes).
