Soma Saito reinvents himself yet again, shifting further away from darkness – the journey he started on his 3rd album “Fictions” – to a brighter and more carefree sound in “Nuance”.
Table of Contents
Before diving into the review, have a look at the limited edition in this unboxing video!
Review
Title: Nuance
Release date: 05/11/2025
Label: SACRA MUSIC
Genre: Indie Rock / Hardrock / Pop-Rock / Jazz-Rock
Tracklist
1 - lol
2 - afterschool
3 - マヨヒガ
4 - 落日
5 - rain shoes
6 - Ham the star [Exclusive bonus track for physical copies of the CD]
Track by track analysis
1 – lol
“lol” kicks off with a punk-rock-inspired drum and guitar combo, comfortably trailing through the instrumental in an upbeat, fun, and carefree way. In a sense, this song seems like a reverse take on “carpool”. Here we have an exciting, innocent, and freeing take that gives off a “have fun doing what you love” vibe.
The bassline is deep, adding a strong heartbeat to this song, serving as the backdrop that contrasts with Soma Saito’s high vocals – these are doubled, creating a sort of echo in the background.
The song structure will catch you by surprise because you have a break before the second chorus, leading to an instrumental section before taking you back to the chorus section. Instead of the typical 3 choruses in rock music, Saito breaks that structure with two choruses, going straight from the second verse to the bridge and wrapping up with a 2nd chorus and an outro.
This structure will sound off as the guitar solo will appear midway through the song instead of in the last 15% of it, but it works amazingly because, if Saito went for 3 choruses, the song would get monotone and repetitive. This was quite the inventive way to structure the song and broke my expectations by catching me off guard with that amazing guitar solo.
2 – afterschool
A melancholic guitar melody takes the lead, kicking the doors open for the other electric guitar to join the instrumental. The song soon quiets down the guitars to give the stage to Soma Saito’s vocals, which are now clean and oddly panned on top – they seem like it, but that’s not possible without 360 audio – which leads me to say that not only were the vocals centered, but he’s almost like in your head in this song.
The verses are quiet, with that melancholic guitar leading the way, slowly welcoming other elements into the song.
To your left, you have a distorted guitar – almost destroyed sound -, whereas to your right, you will find a guitar playing cleanly. In the background, you will find a punchy, incredibly groovy bassline.
The chorus kicks off with a blast, almost feeling like a gust of wind, running away or towards something at a fast speed. There’s for sure a feeling of liberation coming from this chorus, as if you’re letting go of something and moving forward, facing whatever comes at you with confidence.
When we go to the second verse, we get more of the drums, with a lot of work on the toms, adding more bass and depth to this instrumental. And here it is, to my surprise, distorted – slightly gated – drums in the lead up to the chorus.
The drums go ballistic in the solo – going deep into the toms while the guitars shred in a solo escalating in tension to the point that you will be on the edge of your seat.
When it comes to the vocals, Saito is performing in a comfortable mid-tone, sometimes bringing a soft wobble to his voice – not a full-on vibrato – and, in the outro, he goes slightly rough on the vocals to add a bit of an edge.
3 – マヨヒガ (Mayohiga)
Heavy guitars lead the way in “Mayohiga”, song that has a much more intense and violent tone than anything else that Soma Saito has ever released before.
Muted guitar riffs are a big feature in the verses, complemented by the deep bassline. The song itself is slow-paced, with a 90s grunge-inspired verse section, with a groovy bassline deep in the background pushing the song forward as the guitars go low and dirty, while Saito’s muffled vocals lead the way full of confidence and power.
Confidence and power in a Saito performance are two rare things together. Saito is more about controlled gentleness than pure power, and while his performances are always confident, this one seems to be a notch or two more so.
In a way, this performance feels like something that could be part of his work as Judah in the Dear Vocalist franchise due to how violent, deep, dirty, and intense it is from the vocals to the instrumental. And believe me, I’m going bonkers with this because this was something I was never expecting to find in this song.
When it comes to the vocals, we have them muffled in the verses, then they get all clean and ethereal in the English pre-chorus, and then muffled again in the chorus. Saito plays around with his falsetto at times, but only for brief moments. For the most part, his vocals are on a slightly lower scale – just a tiny bit deeper than usual – which adds edge and more power to his performance.
Strong performance – and surprising instrumental (although it was a matter of time until Saito brought some really heavy metal-inspired elements to his music after years talking about those – which makes this, so far, the best song in “Nuance”.
4 – 落日 (Rakujitsu)
A simple synth melody plays in the background as a slow, comfortable tempo sets the relaxing tone in “Rakujitsu”.
This song strays slightly away from the hard rock sound we’ve had until now and brings a softer, yet nostalgic, sound to the forefront. This is yet another song that feels like going on a journey or on a drive, and, in this case, enjoy the good vibes you get as you see the sunset.
This song flies by quickly, bringing simple verses and equally simple chorus sections that will be catchy – I predict this song will a fan favorite because you can clearly feel those “carpool” vibes in it yet not dark it – which may be a plus or a minus depending on where you come from in terms of your enjoyment of Saito’s darkest side of his repertoire.
One thing I love a lot about this song and which gives me strong acid-jazz/experimental rock, is the bridge section. Instead of having a solo or a sequence of solos, we have elements piling up as we go, with each solo smoothly introducing another while the original doesn’t stop playing.
So what happens here is that the bassline starts the solo section, then two electric guitars arrive with a reverb solo-ish section that plays on top of the bass solo. And then all of that is complemented by the piano delivering a dreamy, truly beautiful melody in its solo, leading up to the last chorus. This is an interesting way to make the bridge evolve with that ethereal sound in the backdrop, increasing its complexity with each element added to the composition.
On the vocal end, Soma Saito is in his element, delivering a breathtaking falsetto in the chorus; however, there is a trick to it this time around. While in songs like “Ame no Niwa” the falsetto was clean – and only one track – in “Rakujitsu”, the falsetto is performed with reverb and with the vocals doubled (two tracks minimum that I caught in the mix) and in the background a lower-toned backing vocals track – performing the same thing – for Saito to ensure there is a balance in terms of the tone.
5 – rain shoes
A distant piano melody plays in the background, opening the curtains for a slow-paced acoustic guitar – to your right – and electric guitar – to your left – to join the stage. In a comfortable tempo led by brushes on the drums, the song brings into the mix a glockenspiel or a xylophone, adding a sort of tip-toeing vibe to the percussion.
The song then flows in almost a waltz-like rhythm – although it sounds like a natural 4/4 measure, which goes at odds with a waltz or even with the jazz undertones to this song.
The guitar solo that starts in the bridge and carries over to the next chorus is absolutely insane; it perfectly covers the vocals, screaming for them as Soma Saito keeps things really soft and gentle on the vocal end. This contrast is fascinating and has me wishing Saito were the one playing that section on guitar because that would immediately go down as one of the most epic things he’s played – on par with the guitar parts in “isana”.
There’s something odd yet extremely pleasing about this song that I really can’t explain, and that’s a mix of the vibes that this song mirrors from “St. Obsession” (albeit a slower take on that cheeky ending that completely changed the whole story), a song released in “Yin/Yang.”, with the waltz-meets-jazz rhythm in this song that had me guessing the time signature in the intro/first verse because it felt irregular – and isn’t – and then the 70s rock vibes.
6 – Ham the star
This EP comes full circle with “Ham the star”, song in which a slow-paced overdriven guitar leads the way. The sound is almost as if it were recorded in a garage – vocals distorted, guitars overdriven, dirty, and washy drums. Everything is simple.
The verses feature muffled vocals by Soma Saito, setting the tone in a quieter first part that slowly builds tension as the drums and bass intensify, culminating in a straightforward chorus that had me slightly giggling because “Ham the star” becomes “Hamster” for me during that section.
Given that this song has a demo quality to itself – unpolished and raw – the vocals are too stuck in the background as the guitars take both of your ears. Another thing that doesn’t help bring the vocal forward is how muffled they are – intentionally, I reckon.
Still, “Ham the star” is the kind of song that could come up during a jam session. It’s fun, carefree and perfectly ties up with that opening garage band sound in “lol”.
Final considerations
“Nuance” is all about the little details and the feelings and emotions you will find hard to describe. In such a complex concept – yet with a relatively simple and easy-listening sound – Saito reinvents himself, shifting further away from darkness – the journey he started on his 3rd album “Fictions” – to light with “Nuance”.
While the tone is brighter in comparison with the pure darkness in “Yin/Yang“, the twisted surrealism of “my beautiful valentine” and the doom and gloom in “in bloom“, “Nuance” is not without its introspective and dark moments. “Mayohiga” and “Rain Shoes” cover those bases pretty well, giving glimpses of the improvements Saito has brought into his songwriting – adding more variety, making songs more unpredictable to take you on a crazy rollercoaster ride, and focusing on even more emotional, deeper performances without going all emo on us.
When you take a closer look at this EP, and especially if you come to it expecting a dark release, you’ll take some time to adjust to these changes in tone. However, by the second full listen, you’ll be vibing to it – if “Mayohiga” doesn’t have you on a chokehold since the first listen.
I can safely say that, while I was expecting a darker EP, this was the song that made me understand that Saito is evolving his sound to a brighter one, albeit not disregarding his old sound and darker concepts. If anything, he continues to show that he still has that darkness in his music, only now it’s underlying and not in full blast on center stage.
And “Rain Shoes” sealed the deal for me with one of the most unique and iconic compositions and arrangements in Saito’s repertoire. That guitar solo playing at the same time as Saito’s vocals gently and slowly raises the tension, giving me goosebumps all over. There’s something about a screaming guitar and Saito’s calm, warm vocals paired together that always tugs at my heartstrings and makes my jaw drop in awe. It happened with “Palette”, “Mirrors”, and “Uzumibi”, and honestly, all those songs instantly made it to my top favorite songs of his.
Overall, the EP is super fun, “lol” and “afterschool” are the type of songs that I love to blast in the background to get a dash of energy and be taken to a freeing soundscape where anything is possible. It is crazy how good those two songs are. And while I think “lol” is not an impactful opening track to this EP – for example, “Hammer Girl” (Fictions) is still to this date the most impactful one, kicking off the CD with a bang. “lol” in comparison is more subdued, not meant to make an impact but to show that this is a quieter, calmer and more laidback CD with a nuanced and extremely vague concept ready to be unleashed.
This EP is not as demanding on the vocal end as previous ones, and you’ll instantly notice it. His falsetto, while present, is barely a highlight, and he’s not even venturing much to that soft tremolo – almost a mimic of vibrato – nor anything wild is going on. The performances are straightforward, capitalizing on Saito’s outstanding control over his vocals, steadily tackling this collection of rock songs with power, charisma, and a lot of confidence.
Saito has pointed out in the most recent interviews, for news outlets like ROCKIN ON, that this EP – much like any of his previous ones – is meant to be interpreted however fans want and will give way to various interpretations, theories, and such. Knowing that Saito is aware and intentionally makes it so that his music sparks those types of conversations by either being strongly storytelling-driven (in bloom, my beautiful valentine, and Yin/Yang) or, in the case of “Nuance”, extremely vague and artistic, shows you that everything he creates has a dash of genius. His music has various layers; the lyrics are crafted in a way that you’ll want to explore more and try to find connections to other songs, hidden meanings, and such. Saito’s music is a ton of fun, and “Nuance” proved that yet again.
With an EP more rock-driven than ever before – 5 out of 6 songs are full-on rock – and with a collection of songs that are fun, carefree, and still fundamentally Soma Saito, “Nuance” is a strong EP, a unique addition to his repertoire, leaving fans begging for more.
Soma Saito’s “Nuance” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
thank you for the review!!! i wholeheartedly agree with this one, and the mayohiga praise is so real.. i’m looking forward to translating this EP. although i do love his darker stuff, Nuance is such a lovely addition to his repertoire. ^_^