Sir Vanity’s Yuichiro Umehara takes the stage for “goldfish”, song that feels contained and intentionally does not show much to the listener.
Sir Vanity consists of Yoshiki Nakajima (vocals and guitar), Yuichiro Umehara (vocals and guitar), Arte Refact’s Satoru Kuwabara (on bass) and taisei (VJ & Creative Director).
Title: goldfish Label: VANITY RECORDS Release date: 25/12/2021 Genre: Pop-Rock
Tracklist:
1 - goldfish
Track analysis:
1 – goldfish
Sir Vanity returns with “goldfish”, a song that kicks off in a melancholic tone as distant guitar riffs lead the way.
The verses have a duality, with the first part being slow-paced and sweet whereas the 2nd part cranks up the speed and intensity, with guitars and drums blasting their way through to the chorus. In the background, a fickle piano melody and a punchy bassline add depth to the song, carrying themselves to the chorus.
In contrast to the verses, the chorus is slow-paced and clearly not as intense, leaving the emotions to pour in the piano stabs joining in the song in the latter part of the chorus.
Do expect a cool, overdriven guitar solo – albeit a brief one – in the bridge, building up the tension to a last run of the bright chorus.
This isn’t, by far, something new from Sir Vanity and much less something unexpected in terms of composition.
Simplicity and sticking to a comfortable brand of pop-rock has served the band well and for “goldfish”, it’s not different however, with the composition being quite standard, the sound is pretty much by the book on what you could expect from pop-rock, “goldfish” ends up being quite dull after a couple of listens as well as far from standing out, even within Sir Vanity’s repertoire.
On the vocal end, this time around Sir Vanity brings only Yuichiro Umehara on vocals (and lyrics).
This is quite the simple performance, led by his mid-tones but lacking anything – technique-wise – that he has been showing in the last couple of years for 2D music projects.
Steady and consistent but lacking any depth or emotional range, this performance is far from being Umehara’s best.
All in all, “goldfish” does sound a bit like a contained pop-rock tune (quite possibly intentionally to fit the lyrics + theme). As a result, the sound is simple and by-the-book, the performance is subtle, without an intention of leaving a mark and you’re left wanting something more robust from the band.
If you’re trying to get into the band, this may be a good time – and the perfect song – for it as the sound is pretty much accessible and easy-listening and the vocals are not as intense as in previous iterations by Sir Vanity.
If you’re looking for something with the same quality as “Vanity/HARUKA” or even “Ajisai” and “HERO” then this song may arrive as lackluster.
“goldfish” is available for streaming on Spotify.
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