STYLE FIVE “Rising free” (Review)

3 years since their last single, STYLE FIVE make their comeback with “Rising Free”, song featured in the movie Free! -Timeless Medley- Original Soundtrack Bond and Promise.

Title: Free!-Timeless Medley-Original Soundtrack Bond and Promise
Release date: 19/07/17
Label: Lantis
Genre: J-pop

Tracklist:

33 – RISING FREE

Track by track analysis:

33 – Rising free

Having withdrawn from their EDM influences provided by the progressive synths and the bass, which was the main focus in the majority of their tracks, Rising free goes on a completely different path.

Instead, what is presented to us is a track with an intro delivered by the violins and a fast tempo-ed drum performance as well as a synth that is most of the time masked by the instrumental piece, only having a clear presence here and there, namely the chorus.

To add some jazz to the track, the sound of droplets hitting the water is a constant in this track, which is a clear reference to the anime.

Although “Rising free” is by far better than “Future Fish“, we cannot forget that aside from the instrumental piece being good, and slightly different from what had been released so far, there’s no clear and distinct moment for each member to shine.

That comes as rather disappointing, especially if we take into account that we have powerhouse vocalist Miyano Mamoru as well as Nobunaga Shimazaki, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Daisuke Hirakawa, and Tsubasa Yonaga, each one having their unique talent which could be brought out.

STYLE FIVE is a unit that started off with the first single “Splash Free“, an upbeat and fresh release. The synths and bass made the track’s instrumental piece into a  funky and dancefloor-appropriate track.

However, with the unit’s second release, Future Fish, these elements were overly used, and instead of having another powerful track we got an overcrowded and even nonsensical track that not only didn’t bring out the vocal potential of STYLE FIVE’s luxury lineup but it also was hard to listen to. On another note, Neo Blue Breathing had all that was lacking in the other track.

With Rising free we can say that though not completely satisfied with the unit’s performance, because we know they can do better, we can say that the unit has at least redeemed itself after the fiasco Future fish was, a track that sounded more like a rodeo than a anything else.

In the future, we hope that STYLE FIVE present us with good quality music, so we’ll look forward to seeing how they’ll surprise us.