RayGlanZ “GO NOW!” (Review)

RayGlanz make their debut with the hard-hitting dance song, “GO NOW”. Exuding a dark and imposing vibe, Readyyy! Project’s most powerful unit takes the stage and makes it theirs in no time.

RayGlanZ consists on Shuma Konoe (81 Produce), Masamu Ono (Ken Production) and Katsuyuki Miura (Atomic Monkey).

Title: Readyyy! Project
Label: WAVE MASTER
Release date: 01/05/2018
Genre: Pop

Tracklist:

1 - Special Nu World (performed by SP!CA）
2 - キミが見た空は (performed by Maten Rocket)
3 - 大胆不敵に恋したい (performed by Just 4U）
4 - GO NOW! (performed by RayGlanZ）
5 - BEAT IN LOVE (performed by La-Veritta)

[Disclaimer: Although this song is part of the Readyyy! Project album, we decided to review all 5 songs separately in order to give a better insight on each group and song.]

Track analysis:

4 – GO NOW

RayGlanz are the most popular group within the Readyyy! Project franchise since day 1. Initially, fans were drawn to the character art, then to their concept, the seiyuu and ultimately their powerful music.

“GO NOW” was crafted by SHIROSE from WHITE JAM, none other than TOHOSHINKI (TVXQ) and AAA’s producer. That name alone in the song credits was enough to make my expectations high for the instrumental, or wasn’t it produced by someone known for producing hard-hitting, top charting dance hits.

And “GO NOW” is exactly that. A hard-hitting dance pop song that has the makings of a chart-topping song (had it been performed by any of the groups mentioned above it would have hit #1 on Oricon in no time). Synth-wave galore catches the listener’s attention as soon as the very first atmospheric synth pads make their entrance. Slow paced and relying heavily on synths, this song is quite possibly one of the most dancefloor-oriented songs part of the first batch of tracks released by Readyyy! Project’s units. While having too many synths might, most of the times, either hinder the vocals (taking the focus away from them) or make the instrumental too confusing to deal with, the way those were handled and incorporated in “GO NOW” will certainly impress you (or not if you’re familiar with SHIROSE’s work). Those synths contributed to the dark and imposing vibe associated to RayGlanz. At the same time the percussion, although minimalistic, was more than enough to set the slow, slightly alluring pacing to this song.

On the vocal end, while I’m well aware that opting for auto-tune was a stylistic thing, I believe that Konoe, Ono and Miura’s vocals were good enough that there was no need for auto-tune. Individually, I found 3 interesting and talented seiyuu in RayGlanz. Shuma Konoe brings a trademark powerful touch (common among 81 Produce’s talents) to this song. His performance was all about impressing with his low register. His rich low notes contributed heavily to make the group’s imposing vibe stand out. At the same time, he’s a charismatic singer, completely stealing the listener’s attention for himself as soon as he tackles his first lines. He’s shown that he’s got some versatility in himself, tackling some high notes and doing a pretty good job with backing vocals or harmonizing with the other members. Masamu Ono has an interesting register. His high notes are rather powerful although they lack some polish. He also has a sweet falsetto that, with more training, can be an excellent tool to take RayGlanz’s songs to a whole new level. Katsuyuki Miura has a consistent mid-range the only downside is that when demanded to tackle high notes, instead of singing them and hit them comfortably, he clumsily yells them. Some work on his higher register would do wonders to his overall singing.

Overall, RayGlanz made an exciting debut with “GO NOW”. They’ve got a talented lineup (with a lot of room for improvement), a charismatic leader, and a stunning yet imposing dark vibe that completely sets them apart from the other units within Readyyy! Project.

Final rating:

This song is available for purchase on iTunes and free streaming on Spotify.