SP!CA “Special Nu World” (Review)

SP!CA, the center-piece group for the Readyyy! Project franchise made their debut with the electronic pop song, “Special Nu World”. Brace yourselves for an high tension, energetic song with a catchy chorus.

SP!CA consists on Tetsuei Sumiya (Artsvision), Norihito Hase (81 Produce), Hayato Komiya (Artsvision), Noriaki Kanze (Ken Production) and Atsushi Endo (Artsvision).

Title: Readyyy! Project
Label: WAVE MASTER
Release date: 01/05/2018
Genre: Pop

Tracklist:

1 - Special Nu World (performed by SP!CA）
2 - キミが見た空は (performed by Maten Rocket)
3 - 大胆不敵に恋したい (performed by Just 4U）
4 - GO NOW! (performed by RayGlanZ）
5 - BEAT IN LOVE (performed by La-Veritta)

[Disclaimer: Although this song is part of the Readyyy! Project album, we decided to review all 5 songs separately in order to give a better insight on each group and song.]

Track analysis:

1 – Special Nu World

This song has summer vibes coming from its blend of pop, funk and EDM. “Special Nu World” bets everything on dreamy, washy synth pads and a deep, groovy bass sound (courtesy of a funky slap bass line). Adding to this catchy instrumental are some bits of dubstep percussion (mainly used to enhance certain parts of the song, they’re not the main percussion) and a mix of sampled and live drums.

Out of all debut songs within Readyyy! Project, “Special Nu World” is the one with the catchiest chorus – its highlight. Something that caught my attention was the song’s progression, with dreamy verses and powerful choruses flowing swiftly and smoothly between them. This is such a nice touch that most pop songs lack nowadays – a logic and seamless transition between sections in a song.

On the vocal end there are some considerations to be made. Out of the units so far reviewed from the Readyyy! Project (La-Veritta and RayGlanz), they have the weakest vocals. The fact that there’s a lot more people on this group,  compared with the two groups mentioned above, might be pointed out as one of the reasons, however that’s not the main issue.

First things first, Tetsuei Sumiya, SP!CA’s leader and center, has a solid skillset. He can harmonize well and tackle his solo parts with ease, his vocals don’t falter, and his singing drives the whole unit forward. Norihito Hase has an interesting singing voice. His tone is smooth, and he can add some vibrato (although he needs to have more control over it). Atsushi Endo has sweet mid-toned vocals that fit well with whomever his paired with. His solo parts were among the best. These are the three seiyuu that stood out during “Special Nu World”.

On the other hand, Hayato Komiya was a hit or miss. While there were times in which his solo parts sounded weak, there were others in which he sounded good. There was never real consistency in his singing and his control was all over the place. A bright point in his performance was the harmonizations with Tetsuei Sumiya in the chorus. Inconsistency came as well by the voice of Noriaki Kanze. He was completely overshadowed by his group in the chorus, and his solo parts sounded off most of the times. Still, there’s something commendable about SP!CA. Without high note hitters or powerful lower toned singers (that I know of, based on this performance), they still managed to deliver a groovy and energetic performance.

SP!CA are filled with energy. Their music is exciting and groovy, a nice twist to the “bright pop” trend, the only things missing are consistency and a better control over their vocals. With their talent they might be able to improve from here.

“Special Nu World” is the start of something interesting for SP!CA.

Final rating:

This song is available for purchase on iTunes and free streaming on Spotify.