HARUTA tip-toes his way through a dreamy soundscape as warm and bright as the sun in “Taiyo ga Nemutteru jikan ni”.
Hana-Doll* is an idol project created by movic (TSUKIPRO, VAZZROCK, Tsukiuta, etc). 7 idols are part of Anthos, group signed to the fictional talent agency Amagiri Production.
Anthos* is comprised of Kent Ito, Wataru Komada, Toshiki Masuda, Shunichi Toki, Daiki Hamano, Seiichiro Yamashita, and Shun Horie.
Title: 太陽が眠ってる時間に Label: Movic Release date: 15/01/2021 Genre: Pop
Tracklist:
1 - 太陽が眠ってる時間に 2 - 太陽が眠ってる時間に (Off Vocal)
Track analysis:
1 – 太陽が眠ってる時間に
“Taiyo ga Nemutteru jikan ni” brings out big atmospheric synths to create a wide soundscape reminiscent of summer. However, the transition to the verses changes things around and adds a dreamy twist to it.
Atmospheric synths work alongside a punchy bassline that sounds like someone is happily tip-toeing their way to someplace. It has a perky vibe to it despite the lyrics not going necessarily in the same direction.
The verses are minimalistic, with a clap track, synths stabs and a simple beat creating a stage for Toshiki Masuda’s warm vocals and groovy performance. The transition to the chorus is smooth and seamless, with the atmospheric synths slowly washing away parts of the instrumental to give way to others or even helping transition to other sections.
This is quite the ingenious trick on the composition end that I absolutely love to find in this song. It is subtle but new elements are introduced in this song by waves of atmospheric synths. Little detail however one that makes a massive difference in the way the song is presented to the listener.
The chorus explodes in intensity, with the bassline completely taking over as synth stabs and a hip-hop-inspired beat take over the background. These elements create what is one of the catchiest choruses in 2021.
Now, let’s talk about Toshiki Masuda’s performance in this song because he has absolutely gone the extra mile to impress.
You have him performing in a higher range than usual (worth mentioning that he is a baritone, not a tenor) mixed with his growly, vibrato-filled vocals in the verses and then… out of nowhere comes falsetto and head voice from Toshiki Masuda.
If you’re not up to speed with Masuda as a singer, especially for 2D music projects, he had never used head voice in his performances and seldom uses falsetto as he never gets cast in projects that require him to actually venture to a higher range.
For “Taiyo ga nemutteru jikan ni” he finally showed why he’s one of the most sought-after seiyuu for 2D music projects: sheer power and control over head voice, even adding falsetto to the ending of his head voice (this can be because he wanted to add that flair or perhaps because he was not confident enough to go all-in with his head voice), vibrato, ad-libs, powerful mid-tones and refreshing higher ones.
Masuda did everything on the vocal end for this performance and while it sounds like a simple performance, this is quite the technical and tricky performance to pull off. And Masuda did that effortlessly.
All in all, HARUTA’s “Taiyo ga nemutteru jikan ni” is a fantastic entry in The Way I am CD series and an impressive showcase of singing skills and technique by Toshiki Masuda.
“Taiyo ga Nemutteru Jikan ni” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
“Taiyo ga Nemutteru Jikan ni” is available for streaming on Spotify.
Do not support piracy. Remember to support Anthos* by streaming via official outlets.
