“Slime” shows Jin Ogasawara experimenting and testing his limits as a singer while creating songs with some of the craziest transitions ever.
Title: Slime Release date: 25/12/2022 Label: Beyond The Music/MAGES. Genre: Rap-Rock/Rock
Tracklist (regular edition only):
1 - Slime 2 - どくろ 3 - Slime – off vocal – 4 - どくろ – off vocal –
Track by track analysis:
1 – Slime
Pizzicato strings and delicate female vocals serve as the entrance to Jin Ogasawara’s “Slime”.
As the door opens, what awaits you is something else. Something amazing. Experimental yet again.
Expect rap, R&B, rock, and jazz to take over in one hell of an amazing tune.
The verses are rather chill with an acoustic guitar, shuffling drums, and a melodic bassline setting a unique tone.
Slowly, as the song progresses, Jin Ogasawara shifts from rapping to a melodic style of singing that brings R&B to the spotlight; however, the smoothly changes to full-throttle drums and guitars.
The chorus arrives with violent drums and low guitar riffs while Jin Ogasawara shifts his tone, tackling this part with a lot of power.
The intermission brings glitchy elements to the spotlight, providing this song with a well-needed breather for the listener to process all the unusual elements and influences that are at the core.
But when it comes to the bridge, I couldn’t help but be floored. I wasn’t expecting Ogasawara to bring a mix of jazz and blues to the spotlight, all with fancy drumming and bass work while singing with a beautiful falsetto.
And yet again, everything changes, with rock wrapping up this rollercoaster ride that is “Slime”.
2 – どくろ (Dokuro)
“Dokuro” shreds its way to the end of this single.
Kicking off with a lot of energy – led by the fast hi-hat driven drums – this rock tune is strong on its groovy sound yet underlying aggressive edge.
The bassline is punchy, enhancing that groovy vibe you will find going on since the intro.
The chorus puts the bassline in the spotlight, with all other elements in the instrumental following its lead. This section is a blink and you miss it judging by how fast it goes.
And that speed is matched by Jin Ogasawara’s relentless fast-paced singing/rapping that goes on in the verses. He does perform the chorus in a different way, being rough and raspy throughout, wrapping up neatly with some screamo accents.
The bridge goes low and dark with the guitar screaming in the background as the drums go to the toms for an extra dramatic effect before cranking up the speed in the snare, opening the curtains to the final pre-chorus.
Energetic, simple, and raw in its presentation, “Dokuro” wraps up this single with attitude.
Final considerations
It has been impressive how much Jin Ogasawara has been experimenting with his sound (particularly noticeable with “Black Cat“), trying new things, and testing the limits of his singing skills and this time around it is no exception.
Following the series of impressive digital singles released in 2022, Ogasawara wrapped up the year in style with “Slime”.
Experimental at its core, this single brings a core rock sound that feels like Ogasawara’s comfort zone but continues to expand upon it by bringing rock, hip-hop, jazz, and even R&B to his performances.
The title track has a mysterious yet slightly mocking tone that I find fun. At the same time, it has a fantastic verse + pre-chorus combo that had me gasping in awe.
To find Jin Ogasawara sounding so smooth and melodic, bringing influences of the R&B singing style certainly caught me off guard but given how much of his versatility he has been showing, it was a matter of time until he tried it out.
The power rock sound in the chorus provided him with the platform to blast through the instrumental with rough vocals but you also have the polar opposite when the jazz bridge kicks in and he goes for a beautiful falsetto in there.
This song is crazy and I honestly want to see it being performed live. It is going to be a bonkers performance, and quite impressive if Ogasawara can actually do those smooth transitions between singing styles.
“Dokuro” may pale a bit in comparison with the grandiose complexity of “Slime” but its raw, aggressive yet incredibly groovy rock sound is a fantastic greeting card to Ogasawara’s solo artist career.
The fast-paced singing, the screamo accents, the power in his performance. Jin Ogasawara went all out in that performance and I am all in for that!
All in all, “Slime” shows Jin Ogasawara still experimenting with his sound, testing his limits as a singer, all creating unique songs with some of the craziest transitions ever.
If you love Ogasawara’s intense rock singing and rapping and can’t get enough of songs that defy your expectations, then do check out this single. Don’t miss it.
“Slime” is available for streaming on Spotify.
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