SolidS “Burny!!!” (Review)

SolidS return with a rap imbued, high tension pop-rock song. “Burny!!!” is not just another SolidS‘ song, this is the pinnacle of their power, up until now hidden under their sexy façade.

Title: Burny!!!
Label: Tsukino-Pro
Release date: 06/10/2017
Genre: Electronic Pop-Rock/Rap

Tracklist:

1 - Burny!!!
2 - Burny!!! -off vocal-

Track analysis:

1 – Burny!!!

Be prepared for a whole lot of rap (a first time for this unit), insane group melodies and a dancefloor oriented chorus with a rock touch. “Burny!!!” is nothing alike what SolidS have released so far in their career. It’s daring, not only in terms of concept but also the approach to the instrumental, composition of the song and the vocal performances.

Since their debut in 2015, we’ve only got to hear glimpses of SolidS‘ powerful (hidden) side. We believe this is the very first time that SolidS go all out, at least it sounds like it. In the past they’ve performed electronic pop, jazz, rock, acoustic ballads and lyrical singing but nothing with the punch this song has. This time around, they embraced an electronic pop-rock tune with addictive guitar riffs and drumming, adding flare to it through rap parts, killer high notes and breathtaking melodies. If there’s something we’re sure of is that this is a fiery performance. Fear not, SolidS‘ trademark sexiness is still there – in the lyrics – but the whole instrumental is far from being as suggestive as previous ones were.

The song structure is a bit odd to say the least. We’re presented with an incredibly short intro and after that, everything changes. The first verse warms up the listener with fast paced rap mixed with singing and then more rap; the second verse mixes melodic singing with rap parts, basically using the formula from the first verse in the exact opposite order. The pre-chorus slows down a little bit the song’s pace, resorting to a dreamy piano melody, soothing synth pads and a slow paced bassline. It’s the perfect way to prepare the listeners for what’s waiting for them in the chorus.

The chorus is an explosion of sounds – from the synths, piano melodies, guitar riffs, that dance and rock touches to the insanely high key in which everyone is singing in the chorus, there’s nothing that won’t spark the listener’s interest. On a completely different note, the bridge is slow paced, melodic with an ethereal touch thanks to the synths and soothing piano melody.

The vocal performances are overall incredibly exciting and surprising at times. It’s not the first time we’ve heard Eguchi rapping (remember “Tide”?) and Saito is not a stranger to rap (some songs in the past have short parts in which his performances were enough to spark interest in us) what we didn’t know was that Hanae not only sings like an angel, but he’s a fierce rapper. You wouldn’t think that a tenor, in this case specialist in hitting high notes, would have such an impressive control over his vocals to the point that he can even rap in a lower key than his usual singing voice, and deliver such a consistent, engaging and impressive performance.

On the other side, Umehara was a couple of steps behind the group during the first verse (due to slightly clumsy, off beat rapping) but he picks up the pace in the second verse, and by the time we’re on the bridge he’s already delivering an energetic and powerful performance. He deserves kudos for this performance – not only rapping but also singing and hitting some high notes in the chorus. His improvements are showing once again. His X Lied solo song and this one might just be 1 month apart from each other in terms of recording dates. Still, we weren’t expecting to find improvements in his sing in such a short span of time.

However, when you listen to this song it’s impossible not to notice how highlighted Soma Saito (or Tsubasa) is during the song. Whether he’s the center for this song – we don’t know -, or if this is only by chance and he simply let his performance shine more than his peers, we simply don’t know. One thing is for sure: he keeps improving at an impressive rate. He shared high notes duty with Hanae – the specialist -, but when you’d think that Hanae was going to dominate those high notes in the chorus, you’re surprised by Saito coming from the background and hit notes even higher than the ones Hanae was hitting. Saito started as a banal singer (when SolidS‘ debuted) but now is a beast, able to rap (he’s got a pretty good flow), harmonize, hit high and low notes – also, this might seem like something unimportant but, if we need to thank someone in SolidS for good english pronounciation, it’s him.

Everyone is showing huge potential for growth. That is a bit scary by itself. Eguchi is already one of the most consistent do-it-all kind of singers in the seiyuu business, Hanae is the resident angelic vocal that is also versatile, Umehara is growing and improving at an impressive rate, when he’s got full control over his low vocals he’s going to be deadly and Saito is starting to look and sound like the second jack of all trades within the group, equiped with killer high notes and total control over his vocals. Now imagine if all 4 of them improve beyond this. SolidS is going to be a class act in the seiyuu/2.5D idol business in no time.

All in all, “Burny!!!” managed to show a completely new, and slightly unknown side, to SolidS. This might be easily the best song they’ve released so far.

“Burny!!!” is available for purchase on CDJAPAN for all overseas fans.

Burny!!!

SolidS

Burny!!! (with Animate Original bonus: PHOTO)

SolidS