Futaba Kiduku brings good, bubbly vibes and laidback soundscapes with his new entry in the bi-color series “topaz×sapphire”.
VAZZY consists of Tarusuke Shingaki (leader), Yusuke Kobayashi, Masahiro Yamanaka, Yusuke Shirai, Tsubasa Sasa, Shun Horie.
ROCK DOWN consists of Yukitoshi Kikuchi (leader), Yoshiaki Hasegawa, Takuya Sato, Taito Ban,Takuya Masumoto, Keisuke Koumoto.
Title: 築 二葉-topaz×sapphire- Label: Tsukipro/Movic Release date: 30/07/2021 Genre: Pop/Rock
Tracklist:
1 - ドラマ「ポケットの中のお誘い」 2 - ドラマ「世界で一番身近なライバル」 3 - Lucky Dreamer 4 - Sound of Synchronicity 5 - Lucky Dreamer -off vocal- 6 - Sound of Synchronicity -off vocal-
Track by track analysis:
3 – Lucky Dreamer
“Lucky Dream” kicks off with a bubbly, upbeat vibe, bringing a brass lead melody on top of a simple rock sound.
This is the kind of song that is closest to pop music than it is to rock music so if you’re expecting rock on full blast, “Lucky Dream” won’t be the thing for you.
The verses ride on a comfortable mid-tempo, with a big focus on bass sound, smoothly transitioning to a peppy chorus in which the bass beat and electric guitars create a “happy” soundscape.
On the vocal end, Yusuke Shirai impresses with a consistent performance overflowing with energy and good vibes.
4 – Sound of Synchronicity
Wrapping up this CD is the duet track “Sound of Synchronicity”. As soon as the song kicks off, it’s obvious that the gears have changed completely.
This song is all about its dreamy vibe with atmospheric synths taking over, creating a wide, freeing soundscape in which the listeners can lose themselves in.
Despite the drums having a sense of urgency in the intro, those end up toning down the intensity, giving way to a comfortable beat. There’s a mix of live drums (in the verses) and synthetic/sampled drums (chorus) that add an interesting duality to this song.
The song welcomes delicate glockenspiel accents leading to the danceable chorus. In this part, the bassline is fat and punchy, pulsing within the instrumental. Blink and you’ll miss it, this chorus is really brief, taking you back to the verses as fast as it welcomed you to the laidback chorus.
When it comes to the vocals, Yusuke Shirai and Yoshiaki Hasegawa teamed up to deliver a warm, entertaining performance, with both being completely synced throughout. Consistency from Shirai and power and technique by Hasegawa really add the final touches to what is the best song in this CD.
Final considerations
Futaba Kiduku’s entries in previous installments of the bi-color CD series had been dodgy at times but this time around things are different.
“topaz×sapphire” still carries that bubbly, almost happy-go-lucky vibe that is characteristically Futaba’s in the song “Lucky Dreamer”.
Enjoying this song in its entirety will be a matter of if you’re a fan of bubbly pop with some hits and bits of rock in the mix or not. For me, it was a bit too “pop” and seriously lacked in the “rock” department, something that took away some of the enjoyment for me.
Now, if we talk about “Sound of Synchronicity”, things change considerably.
The song tones down a bit the electronica to the point that you go from the excitement in “Lucky Dreamer” to the dreamy, loungy vibes you get in this song. The bass focus for this song is crazy. The bassline and synths are beefy, adding a danceable twist to this song.
As far as performances go, I’m quite surprised with how much Yusuke Shirai has grown since his last outing in the bi-color CD series. He’s now more comfortable on the mic and much more consistent.
In “Lucky Dreamer” his performance was all about energy. In “Sound of Synchronicity” his work with Yoshiaki Hasegawa is pretty good. They were genuinely sounding in sync something that made this performance – and song – stand out.
All in all, Futaba Kiduku’s “topaz×sapphire” is a solid entry in the bi-color series, the best entry by Futaba so far.
Kiduku Futaba -topaz×sapphire- is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
