pioniX perfectly capture the “Spring” theme with their first entry in the SEASONS CD series “Haru Oshimu“.
Title: pioniX SEASONS 「春惜しむ」 Release date: 28/05/2021 Label: Movic Genre: Acoustic Pop-Rock
Tracklist:
1 - pioniX unit song「春風」 2 - ドラマ「春惜しむ」：前 3 - ドラマ「春惜しむ」：後 4 - pioniX unit song「春風」 -off vocal-
Track analysis:
1 – 春風 (Harukaze)
pioniX kick off the SEASONS CD series with “Harukaze”, song that brings a sweet acoustic sound to the spotlight.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that this song is going to be a slow-paced acoustic tune with boring progressions. It’s far from it.
In the good pioniX fashion, “Harukaze” is a layered and rich song that builds up from a strong acoustic core into a beautiful semi-acoustic pop-rock tune with one hell of an amazing chorus.
The song has comfortable pacing throughout, however, what is interesting is how stripped down the song starts off and how much is built around those acoustic guitar riffs, leading up to the chorus.
Slowly, a piano, atmospheric synths, and minimalistic snary drums join in, building up tension that overflows in the emotional and liberating chorus.
And this is the thing that will stand out and, quite possibly, mark you when you listen to “Harukaze”: the fast piano notes in the chorus are like a flock of birds far in the sky, flying freely as flowers bloom, the soundscape emitting a beautiful pink, warm tonality courtesy of pioniX’s emotional harmonies.
The song counts as well with a double solo – guitars and piano – however, what I loved to bits was that bridge with a punchy bassline service as the backdrop the falsetto by Hinata Tadokoro and Yoshiki Nakajima. In a song with such a bright tone, it was a nice touch to add a section packing a bit of punch to it and also figuratively clouding over the sound in a way that the song isn’t overly sweet.
On the vocal end, pioniX delivered a refreshing performance that doesn’t match anything they’ve done before. That, together with the hopeful and bright tone of “Harukaze”, further makes the Spring tone to the song shine.
Their harmonies are easily the best part of this song. At the source of the outstanding harmonies are none other than Hinata Tadokoro and Yoshiki Nakajima.
They absolutely took over this song and are a strong presence in the chorus, being noticeable at all times, adding a lot of emotion to this song.
The mix between bass and tenor vocals created a powerful contrast that is further enriched by their falsetto and vibrato, techniques responsible for adding a gentle and, at times, fragile tone to the performance.
But let’s not forget Mizuki Chiba and Tetsuei Sumiya that are at the core of this song, adding depth while shining individually.
pioniX captured the whole Spring vibe in “Harukaze”. It is hopeful for the future, almost like representing a new beginning while being gentle and appreciative of its subtle beauty, something that the instrumental perfectly nails.
A gorgeous soundscape is laid in front of you with “Harukaze”, pioniX’s best song released to date.
pioniX Seasons “Haru oshimu” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
