Review Summary: you learn about it
Hello it has taken nine months, but I am here to deliver a very important culture reportbaby that reads as follows: Yoasobi is what J-pop sounds like in 2021 and everyone [in Japan] 1) is listening to them 2) has listened to them and/or 3) is acutely aware of their existence. You're welcome.
As gratifying and
frequently necessary! as it is to bring up the Latest Thing In Pop like it's some kind of domestic microtragedy, the conclusion of this report is that Yoasobi and their debut 30 minute EP
THE BOOK being hyperpopular is in fact a - wait for it - good thing. Shit's a zinger; the hooks have barbs, the singerlady has pipes, the tracks have energy, the rest will flow. Every single song is essentially the same thing in alternative increments of upbeat ("Gunjou"), downbeat ("Tabun") and midbeat ("Haruka"), but this is not an issue because they're all the kind of earworm that belongs on repeat from the first instance, so really those tempo shifts come at a premium. Not mention that, as is always, always, almost always the case, the ol' half-hour span is a forgiving gameplan. Where were we? Oh right -
hooks! The mothership for these is statistically the group's staple song "Yoru ni kakeru", but in my unpaid professional opinion you're better off with the early highlight "Halzion" because it is essentially the same thing with more forgiving pacing and prettier piano. "Yoru ni kakeru" is great 'n' all, but it's one of those tracks that will either make you want to dance like a slackjawed anime skimppuppet or literally drop dead from overwhelming instantaneous exhaustion. Never trust a first single (side note: "Encore" is literally the only full song here that hasn't been released as a single, which is quite unfair because it is equally nice and especially twee, sounds vaguely like Kayoko Yoshizawa if she completely abandoned her air of classiness).
THE BOOK is also a superconvenient way to touch base on, like, all the tropes and trends without the aid of serious concentration or further reading (m'bad). They go as follows: arrangements are dominated by ultrabusy piano plinkle-twinkle accompaniment and unnervingly tireless kickdrums, but they're unafraid to kick off into unapologetic guitar goofery because some things about J-pop should
never change (thank you, "Ano yume wo nazotte"); it carries enough colour and quote-unquote jazziness in its chord choices that some people will maybe confuse it for contemporary city pop; it (quite rightly) fucking
buries its potential for sophistication in pure bricks of sugar at every turn to the effect that those same people will burn in
hell for their mistakes; its vocal hooks don't sound as distinct from K-pop as they once might have; it's absolutely textbook karaoke fodder; there's more than a whiff of the daylight attention robbery and hyperclean plasticity of vocaloid (producer Ayase has history), but there's personality and human presence to balance this out (vocalist Ikura has sentience). So, there you go. Poptimist homework can be fun sometimes!
This is all quaint. Yoasobi are on the map and they can perhaps show us the future as well as the present:
The Bo- sorry
THE BOOK 2 drops December 1st and it is going to sell like Christmas KFC. This bodes well, but however actually I am not 100% positive that I've given the singles any serious attention yet so, uh, yeah じゃあ*~~~
