Brave Child and especially Joshua (CV: Nobunaga Shimazaki) bare their hearts out for a beautiful display of love and care in “TELOMERE”.
The Dear Vocalist cast counts with RE-O-DO (Toshiki Masuda), Joshua (Nobunaga Shimazaki), Judah (Soma Saito), A’ (Ryohei Kimura), Momochi (Toshiyuki Toyonaga), and (2)YOU (Natsuki Hanae).
Title: Dear Vocalist Unlimited Entry No.2 BRAVE CHILD Label: Rejet Release date: 22/06/2022 Genre: Jazz-rock / Ballad
Tracklist (DISC 1):
1 - TELOMERE 2 - トロイメライ 3 - Kinderszenen 4 - METRONOME 5 - One for two
Track by track analysis:
1 – TELOMERE
A jaunty piano melody opens the curtains to this groovy jazz-rock tune.
Despite its delicate intro, the song quickly shifts to a perkier, bassy sound that will get you going.
The screaming guitar in solo, those big bright piano melodies, and the punchy bassline give this song a jazzy flavor that is unusual to find in Brave Child’s songs.
Although far from being a highlight, in the first part of the song there are really cool piano runs going on an arpeggio. This arrives as an unexpected addition to this track.
The chorus is, surprisingly, the weakest part of this song. After so much energy and while riding on top of an explosive bassline and irregular beat, the song reverts back to a simple pop-rock sound with guitars playing in legato and drums going splashy.
Although this is an exciting chorus in and of itself, it lacks the magic that you can find in the verses.
Another great detail about this track is the focus on having a piano solo instead of a guitar one. The delicate and emotional side of Brave Child shows in this part.
As far as the vocals go, as Joshua, Nobunaga Shimazaki’s vocals are always a treat to listen to. However, in this performance, there is something extra to his smooth mid-tones (with a twinge of tenor in there).
He brought a stunning head voice with vibrato in the chorus, using it as an accent to crank up the tension. That alone sounds incredibly good and makes me wish it was not just an accent but a setting that occurred more frequently throughout the song.
All and all, “TELOMERE” opens this CD with a good balance between passion and excitement.
2 – トロイメライ
Wrapping up this single is “Troimerai“, song that brings to the spotlight an emotional piano intro on an empty stage.
Slowly, Nobunaga Shimazaki’s vocals make their way to the stage, gently lullabying you. The tone is gentle and passionate, oozing from this rock ballad.
Screaming guitars, a slow-paced snare-driven death, and a deep bassline complement this beautiful instrumental.
The chorus brings all those emotions in the verses to the spotlight as Joshua reminisces about the smile of his loved one and how much that hasn’t changed with time.
This is an endearing chorus that may make you tear a bit, especially if you’ve been invested in his individual story in the franchise.
I’m in love with the rim shot intermission between the first chorus and 2nd verse. It is so simple, so clean and the best part is how everything quiets down to give it the spotlight.
Guitars are back for the 2nd verse however with a quieter sound. And then, back to a beautiful intermission – this time led by the piano -, you’re taken to the pre-chorus.
As far as the performance goes, Nobunaga Shimazaki made sure for his performance to ooze love and care throughout. He doesn’t do anything fancy but his stability and consistency in his mid-tones and the ability to gently raise his tone just enough to spark emotion from you are what drive this performance forward for me.
This is a beautiful display of love in what is another top ballad from Brave Child.
Final considerations
Brave Child continues its consistent streak of emotional pop-rock releases with “TELOMERE“.
The tone for this release is of “care” and “love“, with both songs exploring different sides of it.
The title track, “TELOMERE” delivers a mature mix of pop-rock and jazz, creating quite the exciting tune.
I feel like the song shines a whole lot in the verses due to that unique mix however when things get to the chorus while we get the awesome pop-rock sound Brave Child and Joshua have used us to, there is a certain magic missing from it.
But when things get to “Troimerai“, everything changes.
The sound is so delicate, the emotions so raw that you can’t help but feel invested in the story being told.
Pure love and passion seep through the lyrics and the performance only heightens those in the most gentle and beautiful way, delivering a powerful ballad sound.
One thing consistent across this release is the punchy basslines and jaunty – at times fickle – piano melodies. This combo serves as the core to both songs, giving them a unique favor, even within Brave Child’s repertoire.
Nobunaga Shimazaki’s shows once again his efficiency in conveying emotions without anything fancy going on in his vocals.
He knows how to convey emotions through the way he enunciates the words, the deliberate pauses, and the slight raises in key. He does minimal things and ends up delivering a genuinely good set of performances that have you reaching for tissues when the time comes to wrap up this CD.
All in all, Brave Child’s “TELOMERE” shows a sweet, passionate, and mature side to the band’s sound. And it is a show of head over heels Joshua is for his significant one.
This is the best release so far in the UNLIMITED CD series as well as Brave Child’s best CD to date.
“Dear Vocalist Unlimited Entry No.2 BRAVE CHILD” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
