illuvista’s “Your side…” is a dreamy, downtempo synth-driven debut song that feels like a warm hug from start to finish.
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Review
Title: Your Side...
Release date: 07/08/2024
Label: REISEN RECORDS
Genre: Pop/Synthwave
Tracklist:
1 - DRAMA 1
2 - Your Side...[DEBUT SONG]
3 - DRAMA 2
Track analysis:
2 – Your Side…
Atmospheric synths playing in reverse paint a beautiful, dreamy soundscape around the listener. The sound is warm, and comfortable, slowly putting the listener at ease.
The tempo in illuvista’s “Your side…” is comfortable, downtempo with a simple hi-hat and bass drum beat, adding color to this instrumental as electric guitar riffs echo in the background, adding a dash of funk to the song.
The bassy lead synth consists mainly of spaced-out stabs – pizzicato-style – adding a bounce to this danceable tune.
In the pre-chorus, a piano joins in the song, adding a layer of beauty and an additional touch of gentleness to a song that feels like a cozy hug from start to finish.
The chorus takes me back to 80s synthwave, bringing an old-school, downtempo, bassy sound – from the lead synth to the punchy bassline and bassy-driven drums. And to contrast you will find in the background a higher-pitched synth melody.
All of this, paired up with the vocals, makes this chorus the song’s highlight.
When it comes to the vocals, illuvista has quite an interesting balance that instantly made me want to listen to more from them.
From REY’s (CV: Makoto Furukawa) deep vocals with a hint of falsetto and plenty of riffing and ad-libs to CION’s (CV: Chiaki Kobayashi) raspy and stable mid-tones and CUC’s (CV: Shintaro Asanuma) cute higher range, illuvista really impresses me.
Makoto Furukawa, especially, is quite impressive in this song.
While every member tackled both clean singing and rapping, there is an extra “oomph” in Furukawa’s performance when it comes to the emotional depth he added to the song – be it in those parts as well as the adlibs and riffing in the chorus and the bridge or even the falsetto that has started to be quite the powerful tool in his arsenal as a singer.
I found myself replaying this song more times than I expected – and I already expected to listen to it many times.
One thing I absolutely love in the composition – or, let’s say, it’s more a trick going on with the lyrics – is how this song was created with an “earworm” focus. The lyrics at the intro and the ending of the song are the same, creating a looping effect that will make you want to listen to this song non-stop (not that I’m complaining).
This is but a small detail but an essential one to make a song highly addictive for listeners as it comes full circle and there’s no “friction” between the intro and outro as they complement each other. When it comes to composition tricks, this is the oldest in pop music and is always effective.
“Your side…” is insanely addictive, even if it’s downtempo. It’s a sort of romantic song, and there’s no crazy uptempo synth in the background. And I love this a whole lot!
Also, the whole vibe and tone of this song just put a massive grin on my face from start to finish.
There is something about its warmth, its comfortable, almost caring downtempo beat that feels right to me.
It doesn’t rush the listener, instead, the illuvista takes its time to deliver “Your side…”, one of the sweetest performances by a 2D group in 2024.
What is VS AMBIVALENZ?
VS AMBIVALENZ is a 2D music project by NIZISTA. Only 7 out of the 14 members were selected via fan voting from 2021 to late 2022. This was the very first time a 2D music project embraced such a format.
XlamV (read: Kranve) consists of Jintaro (CV: Chiaki Kobayashi), Nagomu (CV: Shintaro Asanuma), 39YEAH↗ (CV: Makoto Furukawa), Issei (CV: Kengo Kawanishi), Lion (CV: Tasuku Hatanaka), Auguri (CV: Ayumu Murase), and Subaru (CV: Reiou Tsuchida).
And now, the franchise welcomed two new groups: Fun4re and illuvista.
Fun4re (read: Fanfare) features vocals by TAIYO (CV: Reiou Tsuchida), MIO (CV: Kengo Kawanishi), FUTABA (CV: Ayumu Murase) and KAZU (CV: Tasuku Hatanaka).
illuvista features vocals by REY (CV: Makoto Furukawa), CION (CV: Chiaki Kobayashi), and CUC (CV: Shintaro Asanuma).
To get to know more about this project and its groups, please refer to THTFHQ’s extended article about VS AMBIVALENZ.
You can find this CD on Spotify and YouTube Music.
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