The United Kingdom team raises up the bar with exciting and classy performances in IDOLMASTER SideM WORLD TRE@SURE 12.
Title: THE IDOLM@STER SideM WORLD TRE@SURE 12 Label: Lantis Release date: 05/02/2020 Genre: Pop
Tracklist:
1 - Your Nobility 2 - MEET THE WORLD!(United Kingdom Ver.) 3 - Your Nobility (Off Vocal)
Track by track analysis:
1 – Your Nobility
Your Nobility brings out a classy rock sound feature a leading harpsichord melody, classic rock guitar riffs, powerful strings and bassy drums that create a dynamic dimension to this song.
There is something really cool about the instrumental. Several things stand out in this instrumental. First off, this song channels a classy 19th century mood through the harpsichord melody and strings – it is intended to give a classy yet dated sound to this song.
Then you have the focus put on classic rock a bit throughout the song – with a major focus on the pre-chorus and chorus -, adding simple guitar riffs, big drums, a noticeable bass line and the subtle calls to action, with hyped up sections of the song that call for the listeners’ participation, something pretty common on arena classic rock.
On the vocal end it must be noted that Yuma Uchida, Toshinari Fukamachi and Tatsuya Tokutake made for a solid lineup. Fukamachi’s low tones, Uchida’s flourishes and Tokutake’s consistency stood out time and time again in a spot-on performance.
2 – MEET THE WORLD! (United Kingdom Ver.)
Built around a playful piano melody and groovy bass line, MEET THE WORLD! takes pride in its upbeat and danceable sound.
Atmospheric synths, strings and simple bass-driven drums add the finishing touches to this instrumental, creating an addictive and, at the same time, inspiring sound.
Paying close attention to this song, it actually sounds like a throwback 80’s pop tune – mainly due to its piano melody.
The synergy on the vocal end is so pleasing to the ears. The United Kingdom team has the power and technique, plus the vocal range to cover for the low, mid and high tones, creating a really tasteful performance.
Bonus points for that powerful vibrato section in the last chorus by Fukamachi, top tier stuff right there. Strong and pleasing performance.
Final considerations
After the previous entry in the WORLD TRE@SURE series unfortunately failed to to capture the essence of its representative country, it is reassuring to have the franchise quickly bounce back with a solid display of quality and technique.
Your Nobility cranked up the class for the United Kingdom team. Having an harpsichord featured on a song is one thing, to have it leading it is another!
Clever move that made the song shine within the set of mostly impressive representations of other countries for this series.
Exploring classic arena rock and adding those elements to this song made it more interactive – will work insanely well on a live setting – and I felt like the pacing and composition were tasteful.
The United Kingdom‘s team take on MEET THE WORLD! was pretty solid. Vocal wise they didn’t blew it out of the park but were one of the most consistent lineups in this series.
Yuma Uchida (DRAMATIC STARS), Toshinari Fukamachi (Shinsoku Ikkon) and Tatsuya Tokutake (F-LAGS) teamed up and showcased their all-rounded vocals – with each member solidly covering for different vocal ranges, creating a balance on the vocal end that it wasn’t found in some of the previous entries in the series.
A note that this was the last time that Tatsuya Tokutake performed a song for IDOLMASTER SideM. He announced his retirement from the seiyuu industry by the end of 2019.
Tokutake never got to truly showcase his talents as a seiyuu but for the short time he was in the industry, he showed his vocal chops, being a consistent singer with a pleasant singing tone to match. His performance in this release is the perfect farewell for him.
All in all, United Kingdom was well represented with a mix of classy refinement with a classic rock edge and a whole lot of talent on the vocal end to match. A must listen.
THE IDOLM@STER SideM WORLD TRE@SURE 12 is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.