Lagrange Point completely revamps its sound, bringing hip-hop and fast-paced rock to the spotlight in the exciting single “Ran Ran Ran”.
Lagrange Point consists of Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Genki Okawa.
Review
Title: 乱乱乱 Release date: 22/12/2021 Label: Rejet Genre: Pop-Rock/EDM/Hip-Hop
Tracklist:
1 - 乱乱乱 2 - 左手 3 - オリジナルドラマ
Track by track analysis:
1 – 乱乱乱
“Ran Ran Ran” changes things around for Lagrange Point, putting aside their trademark pop-rock sound in favor of a loungy R&B-meets-hip-hop sound.
You read it well, this song does a 180 on the group’s sound.
The verses are simple, with a slow-paced hip-hop beat at its core, a reverberating bassline, and fast triplets accents in the background.
As the song slowly reaches the chorus, R&B kicks in and the group’s sound is suddenly overflowing with allure thanks to the elegance of rhodes piano melodies. Then, the chorus goes intense and all-out sexy with the beat exploding, the bassline taking the center stage as a shamisen, and big brass adding the final touches to the track.
Everything about this song is addictive, the vibe mature and refreshing at all times.
On the vocal end, you can expect Lagrange Point to change slightly their dynamic, now introducing rapping to their arsenal of techniques available to use in their performances.
Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Genki Okawa tackle this song with a good flow and intensity in the verses, shifting between rap and clean, R&B-inspired singing in the verses. In the chorus, the duo showcases their chemistry, taking turns and dazzling individually – with ad-libs – and delivering melodic unisons in perfect harmony.
What a way to kick off this single. WOW.
2 – 左手
Wrapping up this single is “Hidari Te”, a song that winks at the group’s once exciting brand of rock yet it changes a couple of things to their formula.
Guitars are muffled, the piano is bright, the piano and drums go low, punching their way through the background but there are no synths (like in previous songs).
As a result, their pop-rock sound is cleaner and sounds completely different from what the duo has been releasing so far.
But a cleaner sound doesn’t immediately equal a rise in quality. In this case, the song ends up being slightly generic mid-way through even with its fancy piano work on top.
Vocals-wise, Toyonaga, and Okawa are in their element. Their dynamic is exciting. Their back and forth raises the tension in the song. Their technique – individually – and chemistry make them sound incredibly good right off the bat.
Solid performance in a song that tries hard to revamp the duo’s original sound, ending up in dull territory.
Final considerations
A lot has changed for Lagrange Point that finds its sound completely different in “Ran Ran Ran”.
Hip-hop and R&B had never been music genres the duo had embraced so everything about this single – and particularly the title track – came as a surprise.
“Ran Ran Ran” is quite minimalistic, with its hard-hitting hip-hop sound leading the way however never forgetting the group’s origins and trademark alluring vibe, bring R&B to the spotlight through a classy rhodes piano melody.
A little detail that may go unnoticed is that shamisen melody playing on the right side in the soundscape. That’s such a nice touch that winks at past releases by the duo, adding a layer of timeless beauty to this song.
“Hidari Te” winks at the group’s past sound however revamping it to sound cleaner and, easily, more mature than ever. The fast-paced guitar rock replacing what would be – a couple of singles back – synths, is a welcomed change that makes Lagrange Point’s sound take a different step, be really unique within the Pythagoras Production franchise.
Although a lot has changed for the duo, something remains the same: the quality of the vocals. Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Genki Okawa are as in sync as ever, impressing both individually as well as a unit throughout the single.
This time around there was a new challenge for both of them: rap.
Well, I’ve written “both of them” but really, only Genki Okawa hadn’t showcased his rap skills (Toyonaga has been doing that in the Dear Vocalist and Paradox Live franchise for a couple of years). I’m pleasantly surprised with what Okawa had to offer in this performance, matching Toyonaga’s level, taking this performance to a whole different place.
As a result of all the changes in their sound, listeners will find the duo not only rapping but also R&B riffing, delivering their trademark clean singing as well as rocking the stage for a rawer performance than usual.
All in all, “Ran Ran Ran” is an almost complete overhaul of Lagrange Point’s sound. In my opinion, the group didn’t need a change in sound or dynamic – as they were, in the last couple of years, the best-sounding group in the Pythagoras franchise – but ended up suiting them.
“Pythagoras Production Shining Stage Vol.3 LAGRANGE POINT” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
