Review | DRINK ME “DRINK ME”

DRINK ME

DRINK ME’s self-titled CD is overflowing with upbeat melodies, playful guitar work, and cheery performances.

DRINK ME consists of Daiki Yamashita (vocals), Toshiki Masuda, Yoshimasa Hosoya, and Yuki Kaji. The band is part of the FlyMe Project created by Exit Tunes and Xarts, bringing together seiyuu and real visual-kei artists.

The band debuted in 2015 and is on hiatus since 2017.

Tempo estimado de leitura: 4 minutos


DRINK ME self-titled CD (2015)
Title: DRINK ME
Label: PONY CANYON / Exit Tunes
Release date: 01/04/2015
Genre: Visual-kei Rock

Tracklist:

1 - わくドキ☆ワンダーランド
2 - メロンソーダ急上昇↑↑↑
3 - わくドキ☆ワンダーランド -instrumental-
4 - メロンソーダ急上昇↑↑↑ -instrumental-
5 - 知りたい事、思い出せない事 [DRAMA TRACK]
6 - 思い出す事、思い出せない事  [DRAMA TRACK]
7 - DRINK MEの日常① [DRAMA TRACK]
8 - DRINK MEの日常② [DRAMA TRACK]

Track by track analysis:

1 – わくドキ☆ワンダーランド

わくドキ☆ワンダーランド (Wakudoki ☆ Wonderland) put on the spotlight happy-go-lucky synths with a simple, splashy beat, a punchy bassline, and minimalistic guitar work. DRINK ME are all about their oshare-kei aesthetic and it shows in their music.

The spotlight is put on the synths, that drive the song forward and add a happy, upbeat vibe that is heavily contrasting with MEDICODE’s pitch-black rock. The synths may end up being a bit too much to hand by the 2nd time you’ll be listening to the chorus though.

Daiki Yamashita tapped into his higher register to pull off Rentarou’s voice in this song. As a result, he added a youthful, cheery tone to his performance.

2 – メロンソーダ急上昇↑↑↑

メロンソーダ急上昇↑↑↑ (Melon Soda Kyujoshoo ↑↑↑) kicked off with a cute, minimalistic music box melody and quickly evolved into an explosion of color. The verses were simple yet the bassline was massive for this track.

As the song progressed, drums got increasingly intense, with the splashy touch of those painting the playful soundscape of this song.

For this song, however, Daiki Yamashita wasn’t performing in a similar tone to the leading track. His key was slightly lower – still high, but noticeable lower in comparison -, settling in a comfortable register for Yamashita to pull off his performance.


Final considerations

DRINK ME‘s debut CD was pretty much a textbook happy-go-lucky oshare-kei release. “DRINK ME” is overflowing with upbeat melodies, playful guitar work, the synths are a driving force all around.

Rock still has its place in this CD however only in the back, as high-toned synths are really the greeting card for this band.

Out of both songs, Wakudoki Wonderland is the one that stands out the most. I enjoy its cheeky attitude although the synths in the chorus almost erase the enjoyment I was drawing from this song.

Melon Soda Kyujoshoo ↑↑↑” is really a song made for those that love peppy music. The synths – once again – are at center stage and the guitars in the far back, making this song flirt with pop music while ditching rock in the process.

Matenrou Opera’s Ayame was in charge of keys and synths for this release.

On the vocal end, Daiki Yamashita had a bit of a challenge in this CD.

DRINK ME’s vocal – Rentarou – has a higher-pitched singing tone (contrasting with the rather deep speaking tone that you can check in the drama parts in the CD) and thus, Yamashita had to tap into his vocal range to pull off his singing tone.

He did so flawlessly and as you listen to his performances, quite effortlessly. It never sounds like he’s straining his voice nor that he’s trying to much to pull off that singing tone.

In regards to the vocal performances I can only praise left and right Daiki Yamashita.

All in all, DRINK ME’s self-titled CD is an interesting starting point for the band, certainly exploring unchartered territory in the 2D music industry while sounding approachable to those that are not necessarily fans of rock or visual-kei in general.


DRINK ME” is not available for purchase at CDJAPAN.

Vanessa Silva
Vanessa Silvahttps://www.handthatfeedshq.com
The Hand That Feeds HQ founder, content creator, and music reviewer. Basically, the only person managing everything at The Hand That Feeds HQ. Stumbling upon Mamoru Miyano's "Orpheus" in 2011 was the start of this journey. If music is thought-provoking or deep, you may find her writing almost essays (not limited to, but it happens a lot with Soma Saito's music). She's the producer and host of the male seiyuu-centric podcast, SEIYUU LOUNGE (see Spotify link in this profile).

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REVIEW OVERVIEW

わくドキ☆ワンダーランド
メロンソーダ急上昇↑↑↑

SUMMARY

DRINK ME’s self-titled CD is an interesting starting point for the band, certainly exploring unchartered territory in the 2D music industry while sounding approachable to those that are not necessarily fans of rock or visual-kei in general.

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DRINK ME’s self-titled CD is an interesting starting point for the band, certainly exploring unchartered territory in the 2D music industry while sounding approachable to those that are not necessarily fans of rock or visual-kei in general.Review | DRINK ME "DRINK ME"