[News] New mini album 'sixxxxxx' out August 5th, 2015 VI

[Delicious n Bold]

Well, now that I've got the album, I can finally give my scores.

1. Step by step: 3/5
2. Summer diary: 3.5/5 (but a strong contender for 4/5)
3. Sayonara: 4.5/5
4. Sorrows: 2.5/5
5. Shape of love: 3/5
6: Sky high: 4.5/5

Overall score: 3.5/5, or 70% or a B-.

Overall I thought it was a solid effort. Much more tight knit than A ONE and as a result it flows a lot better. Having Yukumi and Nakano on almost every song ensured this cohesion.
There were some mixing issues, picked up using my Bose headphones and using treble booster, such as loudness on Sorrows. While Sorrows is the ultimate grower here, that chorus is just too much to bear. It also goes nowhere, does nothing, and doesn't even try too much. Even meaning of love is better. The days when ayu filler was good. Ayu should go back to that kind of garage band sound she had for My Story if she wants to do rock again. About You is one of her best songs, winding road is still epic, and inb4 someone brings in WARNING's lyrics. However that middle 8 was really unexpected and quite good. I'm really happy that ayu threw that curveball, it shows she still has that spark to spice things up.

SBS and shape of love turned out to be really just average pop songs. I had placed my hopes on shape of love but then I realized I should just be listening to marionette for something a bit edgier and less bland. Summer diary was a surprise actually. It's one of the songs on the album that pulls a triple whammy (Yukumi, Nakano, and Yamada, better known as the Warring Triad) yet the chorus is so good that the song becomes better as a result. It's the diamond in the Triad's rough, the true underdog of the chorus. It's been done before but ayu somehow nails that chorus. It's nostalgic, the electronic instrumentation really adds to that feeling. It's definitely a strong 3.5/5. It's not an 80%, but like 77-79. Almost a 3.7 on the GPA scale. It's objectively generic ayu that won't offend anyone at all but she pulled it off. I feel as if it is the perfect song to play during a sunset at a beach. I suppose here you can say that this is ayu magic at work. A true reason why she became a force with which to recon back in the day.


The other three songs don't really stand out in ayu's discography. She's had better versions of these songs: memorial address for sorrows, marionette for shape of love, and I'm not too sure about step by step but it's definitely not in her top 50. Sky high and sayonara are at an advantage simply because they're better tracks. Sayonara would be welcome on Colours and sky high would be welcome on... it's hard to pin it. But maybe loveppears. I'm kind of saddened that I can hear some loudness issues in Sky high's chorus. It's really a bright and happy song. I like it a lot. It has that infinitely repeatable quality like Walk did.

If I had to keep three songs it would be Sayonara, Sky high, and Summer diary. None of them have a chance for the top 50 but maybe Sky high could crack the top 100.