Golden Record goes all-in with two outstanding performances that highlight they quality on the vocal end in the stellar debut CD “Love Holic”.
Golden Record is a recently debuted unit in the Pythagoras Production franchise. It is a vocal + dance + rap unit counting with the talents of Yuya Hirose (leader), Gakuto Kajiwara, and Shogo Yano.
For more details on the unit, please refer to THIS ARTICLE including a teaser video and cast photo.
Review
Title: Love Holic Release date: 27/10/2021 Label: Rejet Genre: Pop / Minimalistic electronica / Hip-Hop
Tracklist:
1 - Love Holic 2 - 何色？ 3 - オリジナルドラマ [DRAMA]
Track by track analysis:
1 – Love Holic
Golden Record kicks off its activities as a unit with the fancy dance tune “Love Holic”.
The verses are laidback, riding on top of a punchy bassline and minimalistic, slightly dreamy synths. The stage is set and the vibe is loungy while surprisingly playful and mature.
The verses progress in a comfortable downtempo, slowly building up to the explosive chorus in which brass hits and a hard-hitting beat join in.
This chorus is addictive as hell. Really, you’ll find yourself singing along to it as soon as it comes for the 2nd time.
And within the chorus what do you find? An outstanding performance by the trio.
Kajiwara, Hirose, and Yano went for powerful unison, intense vocals with falsetto and vibrato in the mix and by the end of the chorus, you have falsetto and head voice in perfect harmony by all 3 members.
“Love Holic” is incredibly catchy and a blast to listen to time and time again. What a debut track!
2 – 何色？
Wrapping up this release is “Naniiro”. The song kicks off with dramatic, urgent strings and glitchy guitar hits far in the background. After setting a darker, and slightly more introspective tone, the verses welcome a bouncy bassline and washy synths.
With the bassline being prominent you have a nice contrast to the atmospheric synths that are in the background, making sure the drama in the intro is constant throughout.
The transition to the chorus is seamless, with a big focus on using synths as the fade-ins and fade-outs to new sections. This makes the song flow naturally, which is essential for a dance track such as this one.
Still, it is worth mentioning that there are strong influences of trap music in this song. The chorus does capitalize on those however only in its ending, serving as a bridge to the following verse.
The trap-inspired beat slows the song down to a comfortable tempo that matches that of the verses. Once again, crafty composition right here with all transitions being seamless, making the song fly by in an instant.
The chorus itself is brief but does bring some excitement and emotion to the spotlight. The bassy beat goes a bit louder than in the verses, the synths also go bassier to contrast with the mid-to-high tones in the vocals by Golden Records’ members.
In comparison with the previous song, in “Naniiro”, Kajiwara, Hirose, and Yano don’t go all out with their performance. This is a pretty standard pop performance from them but with a lot of control and surprisingly good chemistry going on between them.
Final considerations
Well, Golden Record just made an awesome debut.
“Love Holic” is, quite honestly, the best debut CD by a unit in the Pythagoras Production franchise. Yes, not even Lagrange Point sounded this synchronized as Golden Record sounds.
So yeah, while some people give them flak because they didn’t want a new group to join the Pythagoras Production franchise, Golden Record did their job and mesmerized everyone with the quality they have.
They are the breath of fresh air that this franchise needs (even if the other groups still seriously need a different composer working with them because it seems that MIKOTO has pretty much exhausted his ideas for all 3 groups).
As far as the sound goes, when I read that Golden Record would be a vocal, dance, and rap unit, I feared the worst: generic EDM pop with subpar rap on top (because we all know, since 2018, rap and hip-hop have been a trend for 2D music projects).
I was expecting this group – despite its awesome lineup – to sound pretty generic.
However what we got was something completely different that ended up, at least, impressing me.
Their sound is refreshing within the franchise.
It is not the fanservice-y pop sound of Marginal #4, nor the dramatic pop-rock sound of Lagrange Point and it is miles away in quality from Unicorn Jr.’s – at times – generic EDM sound.
Golden Record has a simplistic, almost loungy dance sound that incorporates elements from hip-hop, trap, and even a bit of R&B in their sound.
The focus is not on fanservice, and while their sound is made to be trendy, it is far from being generic. There is a maturity in their playful performances that is ear-catching and makes you listen to more from them.
“Love Holic” is a fantastic debut song for this trio, introducing the listener to what can be their sound for years to come while showcasing just how technical they are as a group, delivering powerful performances with plenty of falsetto and vibrato going on.
While “Naniiro” isn’t the banger that “Love Holic” is, its faster-paced dance-pop sound still lends a lot of elements from minimalistic electronica however cranks up a bit of the tension to deliver a performance that will have you dancing along to it in no time. While it is less technical, it does bring in rap to the mix which is always welcomed when it is as groovy and confident as what you can find in this song.
When it comes to the lineup, Rejet nailed it.
The chemistry between Gakuto Kajiwara, Yuya Hirose, and Shogo Yano is really good right off the bat, their vocals are pretty balanced, with all 3 members covering slightly different parts within the baritone and tenor ranges.
When it is time for harmonizations they know how to deliver clear, engaging, and high-quality performances not to mention that, individually, all 3 members are on top of their game.
They all sing incredibly well – Kajiwara is extremely reliable and versatile, Hirose is a powerhouse in the higher range and incredibly reliable in the mid-range, and Yano is doing everything in the baritone and tenor ranges with impressive ease.
Both individually and as a group, there’s a lot of quality on the vocals.
It is rare for a 2D group to sound this good right off the bat so what Golden Record has managed to pull off is quite impressive.
With that being said, love them or hate them, Golden Record arrived with a bang, making a statement with their flawless debut single “Love Holic”.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can pull off in upcoming releases because if it goes in the same line as the music in this single, we are all going to be in for a treat.
Pythagoras Production Shining Stage Vol.1 Golden Record “Love Holic” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
“LOVE HOLIC” is available on Spotify.
Do not support piracy. Remember to support Golden Record by streaming via official outlets.
