Review Summary: The double-edged sword of stylistic deviation.
Say what you want about Haru Nemuri, but she never half-asses anything in her music. The self-proclaimed “poetry rapper” first hit the J-pop scene back in 2018 (at least as far as LPs go) with her explosive debut record
Haru to Shura, an experience so diverse that you simply couldn’t pin it down to just one primary genre. In fact - as with Ringo Sheena before her - I believe the J-pop label was simply used as an umbrella term to categorize all of her musical experiments under one central appellation. But that begs the question: what the hell else would one have categorized
Haru to Shura as? For every moment that could be considered “pop”, elements of noise rock and punk would intrude such a polished veneer and throw a wrench into the conventions of the genre; add Nemuri’s trademark blend of rap and spoken word into the mix, and you have a thoroughly idiosyncratic piece of work.
However, from the very first track of
Shunka Ryougen, it becomes quite clear that she isn’t intent on simply offering us a rehash of what we heard on
Haru to Shura. The energetic, vibrant punk riffs that kicked off the latter have now been replaced with a surprisingly reserved keyboard/vocal intro. And to peel the bandage off right away, this unfortunately starts to reveal the double-edged sword of
Shunka Ryougen’s stylistic deviations from its predecessor. Even the most subdued moments on Nemuri’s debut were still incredibly colorful and filled with life, whether it be the strange glitched-out effects of the first two “zzz” interludes or the lovely keyboard backdrops of “yoruwooyoideta”. But one listen to the first proper song on this new project, “Déconstruction”, reveals a much different approach, leaning much more heavily on smooth synths and light shuffling beats. That’s not to say that
all of Nemuri’s trademarks are gone, as her vocal quirks are still present here: there’s plenty of rapping combined with conventional singing, the former being used for the verses and the latter for the chorus.
Still, the overall record comes off as much more muted than its predecessor, with very little of that punk spirit that marked Nemuri’s previous work. Once in a while you’ll get a glimpse of it, such as on the weird screaming freakouts on “Never Let You Go” and the title track, or the upbeat riffs and vocal chants of “Shunrai”. And I need to reiterate my original point about Nemuri not half-assing her music, as one can clearly hear the passion and dedication that she poured into the stylistic avenues she explores here. Beautifully layered vocals, intense existential lyrics (assuming the English translations are accurate), and music that tiptoes the line between accessible and experimental… it all makes for a pretty strong tracklist. But I suppose where the album falters the most is in its homogeneity: at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the bursts of punk and noise rock energy on
Haru to Shura went a long way in ensuring the music was consistently exciting and unpredictable. In fact, it’s a bit puzzling that legendary “anti-idol” Seiko Oomori was cited as an influence for
Shunka Ryougen, considering her trademarks can be heard much more clearly on the debut. Again, this isn’t to say the record is devoid of life: “Old Fashioned” and “Who the fuck is burning the forest?” are still appropriately quirky and potent rock tunes - particularly the former with its mix of autotune and distorted guitars - and the bombastic guitar-heavy climax of “Inori Dake Ga Aru” is simply sublime.
However,
Shunka Ryougen strikes an odd dead zone: it doesn’t really have any lowlights, but doesn’t have nearly enough highlights either. This is especially compounded by the fact that it has a whopping 21 tracks; sure, many of them are interlude length, but much of the album begins to blend together after a while. And despite Nemuri still retaining her “poetry rapping” vocal style, the music itself approaches much more safe and conventional territory than what we heard on
Haru to Shura. It must be made clear that
Shunka Ryougen is still a fine album, and one in which Nemuri’s idiosyncrasies and charisma manage to shine through; additionally, given how tough an act
Haru to Shura was to follow, I perfectly understand a possible desire to switch things up on the followup. However, a little more variety and energy would be appreciated for Nemuri’s third outing, if only to make everything more dynamic and adventurous next time around.
