Koki Eto’s “Habatakeru Hikari” is a mesmerizing and ethereal conclusion to the “Ano koro no bokura wa” CD series, wrapping it up with a technical performance that will even render you to tears.
Titled あの頃の僕らは My Dear Days. (Ano Koro no Bokura wa My Dear Days.), is a CD series that has all members of SQ (SolidS and QUELL) and ALIVE (SOARA and Growth) revisiting their old selves. This is the last entry.
Koki Eto is voiced by Shunichi Toki.
Title: 羽ばたける光 (Habatakeru Hikari)
Release date: 31/05/2024
Label: Movic
Genre: Lyrical pop
Tracklist:
1 - 羽ばたける光 2 - 羽ばたける光 -off vocal-
Track by track analysis:
1 – 羽ばたける光 (Habatakeru Hikari)
Koki Eto (CV: Shunichi Toki) arrives with “Habatakeru Hikari” to close off the “Ano Koro no Bokura wa my dear days” CD series.
And what he delivers in this song is… unbelievable.
The intro to this song is ridiculously good with the bamboo flute – I reckon, a chinese one -, birds chirping in the background. It seems as if you’re in the middle of the forest gazing upon a waterfall while immersing yourself in the nature around you.
It feels raw and more meditational – relaxing, even – in vibe than anything that Growth released by far – and even among its members in this series – which is quite the surprise.
The verses use vibes as percussion – which I love! -, delicate piano melodies to your right painting the soundscape with beautiful colors while the acoustic guitars to your left add depth and emotion to this soundscape.
While you listen to this song building up its tension to the chorus, you will be expecting it to explode when it reaches it however… you get one of the gentlest chorus you could get in this series. It reminds me quite a bit of Growth’s “Mahou no Kizuna” in its delivery although with less of a “fantastical” vibe and more of an “ethereal” one.
A choir joins in alongside the percussion and Shunichi Toki’s falsetto ad-libs, which caught me by surprise. But it is at this point that the imagery of becoming a bird and flying away starts to be clear as day.
Prepare yourself for the second verse to impact you even more as that choir now is comfortably to your right as the beautiful, ethereal soundscape around you shines and leaves you in awe.
The soundscape is suddenly airy, there is a harp in the background and the choir is in full blast. If you close your eyes you can almost feel like you’re floating. It’s a crazy sensation that this song brings forth.
And on vocals, who better to sound ethereal than Shunichi Toki? His emotional range and control are at home in this performance. He brings a gentleness to his performance, slowly lullabying the listener in the verses before taking you on an ethereal journey with his beautiful vocals in the chorus.
His falsetto, high notes and legato shine throughout, further emphasizing the ethereal, almost dreamlike, tone of this song.
This is a powerful performance that had me in awe plenty of times. I only felt like this song could do with a bit more volume on Toki’s vocals in the chorus to really be flawless in my book.
Koki Eto’s “Habatakeru Hikari” is a mesmerizing and ethereal conclusion to the “Ano koro no bokura wa” CD series, wrapping it up with a technical performance that even has the potential to render you to tears.
“Habatakeru Hikari” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
