Aya Hirano - Promise

Kita Kitsune Monogatari Ashita e IN

Tracklist:

1. Promise

2. Takaramono

3. Up To Date

4. Promise -Instrumental-

5. Takaramono -Instrumental-

1. Promise

A silent piano opens the first track, lonely in its chord progressions until it's joined by the standard instrumentation of the acoustic guitar and violins. Although its framework is somewhat generic ambiental melodies and a simple melodic structure, Aya has succeeded in taming her deep and wild voice into a slower tempo, as it is linked with background vocals, especially in the chorus. Nothing notably eventful happens until, unexpectedly, the middle eight section starts with a too dramatic transition for a soft ballad like this one, but afterwards breaks down into a vocal-only cadence which gains tempo and concludes the song.

Rating: 6 ½

2. Takaramono

Commencing the next song is a quirky, lullaby-like synth and an acoustic guitar, which, contrary to the expectations of another ballad, pick up and gain a mid-tempo dance rhythm. This intro is unusually stretched out, as it slowly builds up to the place where Aya's vocals finally join in with the melody, as if this was an instrumental version halfway, and quite suddenly enter the chorus after only a few lines, without a tie to the previous melody. Accordingly, her voice is being filtered and backed-up all the time to give a dreamy feel to the track, even though it already had a laid-back character. Promise and Takaramono are very similar, but Takaramono takes the win for that slight dash of originality not present in the A-side.

Rating: 7

3. Up To Date

Wrapping up the single with a third song, a fast, impending intro sets off and turns into a cheerful, rocky guitar chord swap. After two more J-pop oriented songs, it's welcome to hear her main style again with this kind of an uplifting rock track, which carries the anison atmosphere with it. Even though the background vocals are over-layered so much they sound almost like a male voice, Aya lets her full strength loose, as she climbs to bigger heights and hits multiple vibrato in the duration of the song. It's not one of her best yet, but Up To Date does carry a pleasant sound of her past.

Rating: 7

Ever since her label shift, Aya hasn't gotten a single anime tie-in, which reflects in how her songs are mostly turning out lately; recycled and cliche (Hoshikuzu Garandou is excluded from this, fortunately), with an occasional return to her old style.

My overall rating is: 7.

Will I return for an another listen: No.

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Kawano Marina - Sono Koe wo Oboeteru

Monogatari Series 2 ED

Tracklist:

1. Sono Koe wo Oboeteru

2. Kieru daydream - Acoustic Version

3. Sono Koe wo Oboeteru - Instrumental

1. Sono Koe wo Oboeteru

Without any previous intro, Marina's voice, deeper than usual and a playful piano open the first track, showing a more energetic tempo than your average ending theme has. Even though the arrangement is common anison, the catchy chorus crossed with occasional distorted guitars to add the kick and background vocals make the song much more balanced just so it doesn't seem cliched and boring, as the ideal measure of cheerfulness rarely comes by in a J-pop. I rarely like these types of tracks, but I would definitely return for another listen.
Rating: 8

2. Kieru daydream - Acoustic Version

A drum hit marks the start, as thin acoustic guitars open the melody an octave higher than it was in the original, providing much more of a laid-back character. Fortunately, Marina is going for more vocal originality here, with added jazz off-singing, but the static and lacking chord progression, missing some of the harmonies from the original make it much less fulfilling, even though the conversion was performed nicely. The acoustic version is pleasant, but too basic to transcompose the whole Kieru daydream.

Rating: 6

Marina is yet to show any specific image of her own, but her oncoming singles have all pushed through nicely. The only noticeable flaw in Sono Koe wo Oboeteru as a whole is that it's too short, as we get the A-side and a remix, without a new B-side track. My overall rating is: 7

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