Hello MikuDB! Today I’ll be reviewing the latest release from Yunosuke, Fiction.
I’ve been following Yunosuke closely since Pathos made waves in 2016. Last year’s Black or White was a great follow-up, and both were in my top albums of each year. Unfortunately, I don’t think this one stacks up quite as well.
The first four songs on the album start it off strong. While “Feel My Heart” isn’t a standout track, it works well as a intro song and has a nice melody. “Look at Me Now,” on the other hand, stands out as a bit different from Yunosuke’s usual style. The acoustic guitar and simple hook give the song a Latin-style sound, kind of like the groove of “Tada, Setsunakute.” (Track 7 from Pathos). I think it’s a great sound that works really well with the layered vocals on the track. I’d like to hear Yunosuke do this kinda blend more often.
Track 3, “Catalyst,” is a solid song that highlights Yunosuke’s strengths with a killer melody and a breakdown in the middle that transitions into a nice synth progression. “Alexis” is probably my highlight of the album. The flow is so entrancing and Miku’s ethereal vocals weave the chorus together perfectly. It tops off the best part of the album. For the next four songs, I’m not quite as enthused.
It’d be wrong to say that I think these songs are terrible; they each have their good parts and most of the quality production is there, but they’re pretty plain in comparison to Yunosuke’s other material. As such, I don’t have a lot to say about them. “SCALE BUSTER” has all the parts in place, but nothing really sells the song. “Existed” has a decent melody for a slow song, but again, not much stands out to me. The two collab songs, “Cybernetic” (feat. CircusP) and “illusion” (feat. tekalu), are kind of interesting, but I much prefer Osamu’s vocals on Yunosuke’s songs.
The final two songs bring it back for me a bit. I come back to “Ice Cream” repeatedly because I find the chorus so catchy. The “El Dorado 2018 Remix” is also a nice addition, bringing some enhanced vocals and production to an already-good song.
As I’ve mentioned, Yunosuke’s excellent production and Osamu’s top-tier tuning are present throughout the album (except the collab songs). Despite that, the album as a whole suffers from some lackluster songs. If I had to give it a score, I’d say a 6/10 – a number of quality, promising tracks but some forgettable ones as well.
With that being said, I still recommend this album based on the good parts. Of course, you might even like the whole thing, or maybe none of it. Either way, let me know what you think in the comments! And if you have recommendations, send ’em my way. Thanks for reading!
If you’d like to stream or purchase Fiction or any of Yunosuke’s other works, you can find them on Bandcamp, iTunes, and Spotify.