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Review Summary: Yanagi Nagi's first major label debut album is as beautiful and interesting as all of her previous works would suggest it should be. Following her highly successful tenure as Supercell's guest vocalist and subsequent collaboration on the 2+ hour 'Owari no Hashi no Love Song' with Key's Jun Maeda, Yanagi Nagi decided to press on with her solo career as a singer-songwriter and make her debut big-label release with Euaru. By combining her previous predominantly downtempo sound with pop sensibilities (and her usual experimental tendencies), 'Euaru' is a unique yet pleasant listen throughout, with very little in the way of misfires.
After the relaxed synth-led introduction 'Hontou', the first real indicator of Yanagi's vocal abilities comes during the second track 'Yukitoki'. A lively yet comparatively unspectacular piece (the strings, strong chorus and pacy drums mean that musically this is textbook OST fare), her high-register yet mature vocals prevent this from being completely unexceptionable; it is, however, during the follow-up 'Ao no Parade' that Euaru really begins to pick up steam. While being infectious in its light-hearted feel, the lyrical pattern and unusual timing (particularly during the first half) gives the impression that this isn't a standard cutesy J-Pop album.
Indeed, from this point onwards the album becomes an eclectic assortment of downtempo, J-Pop and rock - even something resembling a jazz/metal compound surfaces during 'Laterality'. Yanagi's ability to complement whatever mood or style each song calls for is arguably Euaru's greatest asset, as it allows each song to sound like a part of the album without succumbing to long-term homogeneity. During the more musically restrained tracks (such as the beautiful 'Helvetica'), by reaching the higher registers of her vocal range she is able to give a somewhat angelic performance , whereas on the more energetic rock numbers ('Zoetrope' being a particular example) she does away with some of the subtleties to give a fast and suitably punchy, yet still characteristically clean display. Unfortunately towards the end of the album there is a small yet noticeable drop in quality, most notably of 'Vidro Moyou'; despite not being offensively bad, the lack of catchiness or dynamicity makes it feel like a tired early-2000s pop song, particularly in comparison to the rest of the album. Closer 'Uso' however lets Yanagi close on what she does best - that is, beautiful downtempo songwriting with a convincingly emotional vocal delivery that brings Euaru to a slightly sombre yet peculiarly fitting end.
The variety present throughout Euaru is a major factor towards why this album refuses to feel disposable or overly saccharine, particularly on repeated listens. However, disregarding for a moment the impressive experimentation used across its length the main attraction to this album is simple; Yanagi Nagi's vocals remain as beautiful and soaring as they ever were on all of her previous works, either as a solo artist under the CorLeonis moniker or during the time spent working with Ryo in Supercell. What this album is, if anything, is the final stage of Yanagi's transformation from independent bedroom musician to fully-fledged popstar, while still maintaining the indiosyncracies that made her stand out in the first place.
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Album Rating: 4.0
Never reviewed pop before, it's kinda hard. Beautiful album though, would recommend checking if you're a fan of slightly less bonkers J-Pop. Comment and suggestions welcome.
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Solid review, great artist, great album. Nuff said.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thank fucking God this finally has a review, nice job Aaron. However "Unfortunately towards the end of the album there is a small yet noticeable drop in quality, most notably of 'Vidro Moyou'" why you do this? ;-;
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks :3 Might do Owari no Hoshi no Love Song at some point, but this is the main one I wanted to do. It's better as well.
Haha, I was hoping you wouldn't brick me for that :L I just think it's a bit of an appendage when taken into account with the rest of the album, is all.
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Today Is a Beautiful Day is definitely my favourite thing she's been involved in other than the Monogatari series as a whole. That album is so strong.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Owari no Hoshi no Love Song is unfortunately disposible minus 2 tracks which are so gorgeous. Aaron you know I don't miss a beat ;)
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
@Ending: My love for that album knows no bounds. I didn't realise she was involved in the Monogatari series either! I've been meaning to watch those for a while, guess they got bumped up my list.
@Calc: I listened to it once and I think my outlook's pretty similar. It's pretty, but not a huge amount else.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I need to watch the Monogatari series then, yep TIABD is fucking amazing. Despite Love Song being really average Last Smile hits me in the feels everytime.
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Monogatari (as a whole) is my favourite series ever. It's not for everybody but it's certainly worth a try. If you don't like the first two episode of Bakemonogatari then I'd take a pass on the series, but if you do like it then it has a lot to offer in terms of both audio/visual entertainment as well as literary value.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
It's too bad that the only way you're going to get a copy of this album outside of expensive imports is through SoulSeek.
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Haven't checked this yet, but nice job, Aaron!
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks Evo ^_^ It's definitely worth a check, hope you like it!
Yeah, I've looked pretty extensively and it's not gonna happen 
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I will never understand labels who keep album releases exclusive to specific areas, what is the harm of putting up digital copies on iTunes or whatever?
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
CD Japan can get you this for £20 with tracking shipping (1-3 weeks), cheapest you can get to buy this without getting this used on Amazon.co.uk.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
That's... not too bad. I should definitely look at CD Japan more methinks.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yep CD Japan, Amazon.co.uk, eBay and Discogs will get you pretty much any album you want.
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Sounds right up my alley. Will check out soon.
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"I will never understand labels who keep album releases exclusive to specific areas, what is the harm of putting up digital copies on iTunes or whatever?"
I think up until very, very, very recently, the Japanese music industry has been refusing to go with the tide and adopt digital streaming services, their industry has been thriving almost exclusively on physical releases. Which is why I suppose you don't often find this stuff on iTunes or spotify (I think, don't quote me on that). Avex is supposed to be starting it's own spotify type thing or something like that, so maybe that will change.
Might listen to this.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
this is sweet
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Oh, I didn't know anything about Japan's music politics. Also, this album is really good. If you liked Today Is A Beautiful Day, then you will love this just as much.
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