Miyu Irino arrived without making a fuss and dropped a fantastic single before the end of 2021.
Title: CHEERS Label: Kiramune Release date: 01/12/2021 Genre: Nu-disco / Minimalistic electronica / Acoustic-pop
Tracklist:
1 - CHEERS 2 - LIFE 3 - トワイライト 4 - April（extended ver.）(lyrics and composition by Miyu Irino)
Track by track analysis:
1 – CHEERS
Loungy synths paint an elegant soundscape in “CHEERS”. The tone is chill and the good vibes shine throughout the punchy bassline, pulsing synths, and slow-paced beat.
The build-up to the chorus is soft, with a good bounce on top. And the chorus is all about that “feeling good” vibe, putting a smile on your face as you close your eyes and let yourself be emersed by this warm and stylish song.
On the vocal end, and coming as unexpected, Miyu Irino opts for a performance with vocals manipulation – with auto-tune used in really small measures to add a different twist to his performance.
Quite the surprising song in a style that Irino had never tried before. And an instant favorite of mine.
2 – LIFE
The chillout tone carries over to “LIFE”, with minimalistic atmospheric synths putting you in a beautiful, crystal-clear soundscape with Miyu Irino at center stage delivering an emotional performance.
The chorus is incredibly groovy, with the bassline being massive, serving as a perfect contrast to the intense hi-hat triplets and bassy synths in the background.
Somehow, the verses sound like being surrounded by water. No worries. No responsibilities. Just pure freedom. It has that freeing vibe that instantly hooks you into the song.
The bridge goes even more simplistic, with only atmospheric synths alongside Miyu Irino’s warm, lower tones almost lullabying you.
Addictive, groovy, and with a memorable performance, “LIFE” stands out in this release.
3 – トワイライト
“TWILIGHT” takes you to a chill and elegant soundscape as the emotional guitar riffs, jazzy piano melodies, and dreamy synths cozy up to you.
As the bassline pounds its way through the song, you notice the intimate tone of this song, with its maturity overflowing through Miyu Irino’s vocals.
And yes, he’s brought sweet R&B riffing to this performance, further enhancing that slightly seductive tone in this song.
This is the kind of song you want to put in the background as you chill out or as the soundtrack to some time with your significant other.
4 – April（extended ver.
[Original was previously reviewed]
Wrapping up this single is the extended version of the previously released digital single “April”. Now, what has changed to this song since we all listened to it in September?
Small details in the intro, outro, and end. But you can say that the core of the song and structure is still the same. The song kicks off to the sound of vinyl noise. In the background, you listen to kids playing.
The verses are still as sweet and gentle as in the original version, almost lullabying you while simultaneously putting a smile on your face.
Past the ending of the song, you’re back from the dreamy lull of this song, and reality kicks in, kids playing in the background as you go inside to rest.
Final considerations
Miyu Irino arrived without making a fuss and dropped a fantastic single before the end of 2021.
“CHEERS” is a celebration of life – once again, a theme that has been a constant for Irino since 2016 – with a mature outlook.
This single is all about good vibes, chill songs in downtempo embracing a mix of electronica, funk, and R&B – this is basically a whole single in nu-disco style, channeling strong KIRINJI vibes -, with soft lyrics with a lot of emotion in their delivery as Miyu Irino made sure to leave a mark with each performance of his.
It is hard to pick just one favorite song in this single. I love the technicality and emotion in “LIFE”, I bask in the good vibes of “CHEERS”, want to lose myself in the beautiful soundscape in “Twilight” and can relate to the introspective tone in “April”.
To sum it all up, this is a single I’ll have on repeat because this is exactly the type of music I chill out to.
This is a single that has a sound that is nothing like what Miyu Irino has released in the past and because of that, it deserves extra attention from you. It has the same quality on the vocals but it goes extremely minimalistic while being elegant and groovy at all times.
Easily one of the best singles of the year.
“CHEERS” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
“CHEERS” is available for streaming on Spotify.
Do not support piracy. Remember to support the Miyu Irino by streaming via official outlets.
