Intense and stylish from start to finish, Rei and Kuroi’s “Sway” stands tall as the best song so far in the XX series.
The CD includes a duet song and a drama track performed by Rei (CV: Hinata Tadokoro) and Kuroi (CV: Tetsuei Sumiya).
Title: pioniX XX Series Vol. 2 Rei x Kuroi Release date: 28/07/2023 Label: Movic Genre: EDM
Tracklist:
1 - ミニドラマ『Palatable』 2 - SWAY 3 - SWAY -off vocal-
Track analysis:
2 – SWAY
Rei (CV: Hinata Tadokoro) and Kuroi (CV: Tetsuei Sumiya) team up for “Sway”.
You will be greeted by big synths and a tight beat, elements that are at the core of this stylish EDM tune.
The verses have a dual charm. On one hand, you have a simple, hi-hat-driven instrumental, and on the other, you have an atmospheric synth fleshing out a dreamy soundscape for you to lose yourself in.
Expect that dual charm to also find its way into the vocals as Rei and Kuroi mix clean singing with rapping, adding a unique color to this hard-hitting tune.
The chorus is powerful and quite addictive. When it appeared for the 2nd time, I was already singing along to it, given how simple and catchy it was.
The bridge brings to the spotlight a synth solo, with quite the awesome runs going on in the background alongside a subdued bassline.
That part opens the doors to an ethereal part which the instrumental quiets down to create the perfect stage for Hinata Tadokoro and Tetsuei Sumiya to sway you off your feet.
On the vocal end, the duo has a couple of surprises I’m store for you. From the clean singing in the verses to the fancy, slow-paced rapping and even the powerful performance in the chorus, there’s enough to talk about for hours.
Specifically, I am quite fond of the blend between the booming bass/low baritone voice of Hinata Todokoro and the delicate tenor voice of Tetsuei Sumiya.
Not only do you have a lot of control on the vocal end with both singers but you also have plenty of quality, not to mention, that they never overlap each other (as they cover completely different vocal ranges and the instrumental has a fantastic mix giving clarity to both).
As far as the slow-rapping parts go, I fancy those quite a bit. They add more dynamics to a song that, otherwise, may have felt like it was missing something (or that it was too flat). Combining those with the clean singing parts made sure that the build-up to the chorus was always exciting.
Intense and stylish from start to finish, Rei and Kuroi’s “Sway” stands tall as the best song so far in the XX series.
What is pioniX?
pioniX is a special group featuring groups by two fictitious music labels within the TSUKIPRO franchise: Tsukino Production and Sunpro.
infinit0 consists of Rei Sukigawa (CV: Hinata Tadokoro) and Roa Mikaze (CV: Mizuki Chiba). The duo is signed with the fictional label, Tsukipro.
TOBARI is a rock duo comprised of Shio Amagi (CV: Yoshiki Nakajima) and Kuroi Hashiba (CV: Tetsuei Sumiya). The duo is signed to the fictional label, SUNPRO (home to the pop-rock duo, ZIX).
“pioniX XX Series Vol. 2 Rei x Kuroi” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
