Soma Saito and Makoto Furukawa release full-length albums, Loulou*di make their debut, UMake embrace the Christmas season, these and more this week.
Welcome to another installment of Out this Week.
What is out this week? We guide you below so you don’t miss a thing.
These are the key releases for this week:
- crazy:B “Ensemble Stars!! ES Idol Song season1 Crazy:B”
- I-Chu “OUVERTURE”
- Soma Saito “in bloom”
- Makoto Furukawa “from fairytale”
- Loulou*di “INCOMPLICA:IU~Univers~”
- UMake “Merry.”
- LIP×LIP “LOVE&KISS / Kono Sekai no Tanoshimikata”
- Pythagoras Production “ONE DREAM”
- NOISE NOVA’s Sena Ichijo “PERFECTION NOISE Vol.2 Ichijo Sena”
- Wataru Hatano “Never End! Summer!”
- VAZZY “YELLOW”
- ELEKITER ROUND 0 “the O LL”
- pioniX “Xtory -Sho”
Catch the video edition of this article in the video below!
December 23, 2020 (Wednesday)
crazy:B “Ensemble Stars!! ES Idol Song season1 Crazy:B”
Title: Ensemble Stars!! ES Idol Song season1 Crazy:B Label: FRONTIER WORKS Music genre: Pop-Rock
crazy:B make their 1st entry in the ongoing ES Idol Song series with Ensemble Stars!! ES Idol Song season1 crazy:B.
After the group’s successful debut single, Ensemble Stars!! Unit Song CD Crazy:B, fans are pretty excited about this release.
I-Chu “OUVERTURE”
Title: OUVERTURE Label: JVC / Victor Entertainment Music genre: Pop
The I★Chu franchise is back with new music.
OUVERTURE is the title of the new CD, including new songs by the franchise’s groups – F∞F, Twinkle Bell, I♥B, ArS, POP’N STAR, Lancelot, RE:BERSERK, Tenjyou Tenge – and the previously released I-CHU Leaders’ song, Magical LOVE Potion!.
With the announcement of the anime series adaptation premiering in January 2021, a lot of eyes – and ears – will be interested in checking this release.
Soma Saito “in bloom”
Title: in bloom Label: SACRA MUSIC Music genre: Alternative Rock / Ballad
Soma Saito is going to release his 2nd full-length album in bloom.
After the successful release of his in bloom digital single series, that explored the changing seasons, in bloom – the album – comes to tie it all up.
With Petrichor, Summerholic! and Palette making their comeback for this album, it is already certain the rest of the compositions on it will be connecting or following a similar tone.
Saito has been big on exploring the limits of his sound and vocal range and it is expected that he continues to do so in “in bloom”.
Taking into account the performance of his previous physical releases, it is expected as well that the album will chart high on Oricon’s charts.
Makoto Furukawa “from fairytale”
Title: from fairytale Label: Lantis Music genre: Jazz / Rock
Another exciting album release this week is Makoto Furukawa‘s 1st full-length album, from fairytale.
Flamboyant jazz, emotional ballads and rock tunes aim to create a unique soundscape exclusive to Makoto Furukawa.
On top of it, fans will get to enjoy around 40 minutes of Makoto Furukawa’s smooth, baritone vocals and that impressive vibrato that, more often than not, impresses.
It will be pretty interesting to see how Furukawa fares in terms of sales numbers of this ambitious album.
UMake “Merry.”
Title: Merry. Label: ART SONIC Music genre: Pop / Ballad
UMake wrap up the year with a holiday-themed single.
Merry. will introduce the duo’s first ever Christmas-inspired song and, once again, the title track has an animated music video to enjoy.
All songs in this release count with lyrics by Yoshiki Nakajima and music composition by Kento Ito.
LIP×LIP “LOVE&KISS / Kono Sekai no Tanoshimikata”
Title: LOVE&KISS / Kono Sekai no Tanoshimikata Label: HoneyWorks Music genre: Pop
Almost 2 years after their last music release, LIP×LIP – group counting with Nobunaga Shimazaki and Kouki Uchiyama on vocals – is back with new music.
The single LOVE&KISS / Kono Sekai no Tanoshimikata hits stores this week, building up hype for the upcoming movie adaptation, Kono Sekai no Tanoshimikata: Secret Story Film.
Pythagoras Production “ONE DREAM”
Title: ONE DREAM Label: Rejet Music genre: Pop
Pythagoras Production‘s shuffle groups – WONDER CORONA, NEBULAS and MY▼MILKY▼WAY – are going to release a special best off this week.
ONE DREAM compiles the digitally released songs from the ONE DREAM series and adds in 2 new songs into the mix. One of those is FOOOOOOOOOLISH!!! that brings a mature yet playful touch to the franchise’s repertoire.
NOISE NOVA’s Sena Ichijo “PERFECTION NOISE Vol.2 Ichijo Sena”
Title: PERFECTION NOISE Vol.2 Ichijo Sena Label: Spica / TEAM Entertainment Music genre: R&B / EDM
The 2nd solo music + drama CD in the PERFECTION NOISE’s franchise is helmed by NOISE NOVA’s Sena Ichijo (CV: Soma Saito)’s PERFECTION NOISE Vol.2 Ichijo Sena.
The CD includes the solo track, Turning Point, song that promises to bring to the spotlight EDM with a lot of R&B in the mix, adding a mature, powerful layer to the PERFECTION NOISE franchise.
Wataru Hatano “Never End! Summer!”
Title: Never End! Summer! Label: Avex Music genre: Pop
Wataru Hatano wraps up 2020 with a summer themed single, carrying over from the upbeat digital single, Never End! Summer!.
Lending the same title, the new physical single, Never End! Summer!, compiles the previously released single with an additional new song.
ELEKITER ROUND 0 “the O LL”
Title: the O LL Label: Marine Entertainment Music genre: Pop-Rock
ELEKITER ROUND 0 bid their goodbye to their fans with the Best of album, the O LL.
The talented duo, consisting of Shinnosuke Tachibana and Satoshi Hino, includes old-school hits like “Summer Snow” and “Maria“, alongside a new track that aims at being the perfect farewell.
For those that are not aware, the group announced their disbandment earlier this year but, due to Coronavirus, their plans to hold a farewell live show went down the drain and this best off was continuously postponed.
Thank you ELEKITER ROUND 0 for being one of the most relevant seiyuu units in the 10s.
December 25, 2020 (Friday)
pioniX “Xtory -Sho”
Title: Xtory Sho Label: Tsukipro / MOVIC Music genre: Electro-Rock
pioniX, super group created with the members of infinit0 and TOBARI, continue their series of releases.
Xtory Sho will bring an edge into the mix, improving on the rock formula in the previous Xtory entry.
Although still vastly underrated, infinit0’s electro-pop with TOBARI’s exciting, shredding rock sound continue to be refreshing among 2D music projects and their respective units.
VAZZY “YELLOW”
Title: YELLOW Label: Tsukipro / MOVIC Music genre: Pop-rock
VAZZY wrap up the COLOR series with their entry, YELLOW.
YELLOW – Yellow belly – will count with a trio song in which Issa Kiduku (CV: Masahiro Yamanaka), Futaba Kiduku (CV: Yusuke Shirai) and Naosuke Oyama (CV: Tsubasa Sasa) team up.
It will also have a new VAZZY song to enjoy and several drama tracks for those that are following the lore of this group and, ultimately, the VAZZROCK franchise.
Loulou*di “INCOMPLICA:IU~Univers~”
Title: INCOMPLICA:IU~Univers~ Label: MOVIC Music genre: Pop
Hana-Doll*‘s newest group, Loulou*di, aims at making an impactful debut with their 1st album, INCOMPLICA:IU~Univers~.
With a lineup that includes Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Shunsuke Takeuchi and Daiki Yamashita, expectations are pretty high.
Add to the fact that the group is labeled, within the lore of the Hana-Doll* franchise, as a powerful, veteran group, and there is a lot of curiosity on whether they will sound as good or better than Anthos* or if we’re in for a completely different experience.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
OUT THIS WEEK returns in the first week of January 2021
