My thoughts on “a u se”, the first mini-album from Sari.

 
Release Date: December 3rd 2020

Tracklist

1. mawaru
2. tojikome ta
3. shokyushi
4. sari no shitaku
5. tohiko
6. kokyu

I feel like its been quite a while since I last had the occasion to feature a solo Idol on the site, and if you guys know how much I like that particular subsection of the scene then you’ll hopefully realize how happy I am to be able to do so here today. What can I say, the last year has been kinda crazy and for whatever reason there hasn’t been a ton of solo releases to speak of, though the ones that we have had recently have all been rather excellent so I very much hope that this continues to be the case with the one I’m about to be writing about in just a moment.

Sari likely needs no introduction at this point, you’re either very much familiar with her past work in NECRONOMIDOL or perhaps more recently some of her solo material (review here) might have caught your attention. No matter what the platform, she isn’t shy about showing off her personality or artistic flair and yeah some of it can be a little bit out there at times but I think the cool thing about everything she does is that there’s a clear vision behind it from her point of view and especially since launching her solo career in 2019 you can tell that anything she does is because she wants to do it and because it’s fulfilling in some way shape or form. Nothing is half-hearted and it’s all very uniquely Sari.

“a u se” is Sari’s first mini-album and the follow-up to her debut solo single “kyusai” (review here) which released earlier in 2020. It features 6 tracks of mostly new material, though a few have seen previous releases, but it’s the first time everything has been collected into one neat package at least. You’re probably familiar with tracks like “mawaru” and “sari no shitaku” already and if you are then you’ll know that the singer can be quite unpredictable when it comes to genres, tone and all that fun stuff. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most from this release honestly, to see how Sari takes memories from her day to day life and translates them into songs that I’m sure are going to be colorful, vibrant and packed with variety. No matter what the destination is, I’m sure that it’s going to be quite the journey so let’s get going shall we?

Kicking things off is “mawaru”, which originally featured as one of the tracks on Sari’s debut solo single “kyusai”. I wrote about that release back when it came out and you can read my initial impressions on it here if you would like to. The track’s mellow, Chill-Hop inspired instrumental probably caught a lot of people off guard at the time due to how different it was to what she had typically been lending her voice to up to that point. I think a decent amount probably came around to it in the end and I myself actually really enjoyed hearing a softer side to Sari’s vocals and the warmth that they provided the track with really worked well with everything that was going on in the instrumental. That being a very interesting mix of xylophones, piano and synthesizer beats which while making for a pretty chill listening experience are also bringing a lot of cool, subtle nuances that you’re definitely not going to be able to pick out from just a couple of plays. A lot of it is pretty repetitive that much is definitely true, but that’s pretty much what you would expect from this style which tends to opt more for tone and atmosphere over anything too structurally complex. Definitely not going for the haunting, ethereal sound that most know her for on this track but man does it prove that Sari can do both that and a whole lot more besides. Not for everyone I’m sure but definitely a track to bring in a new audience with.

Up next is “tojikome ta” which is composed by Miyoshi Takahiro from the band QUINE GHOST who I must admit I am not at all familiar with. If you kinda struggled to appreciate “mawaru” then this track is quite a ways more out there than that, opening on this almost Free Jazz style of instrumental before bringing in a slightly more conventional Hip-Hop beat to add a little bit more of a defined structure to things. It all does sound a bit messy and rather chaotic so it’s not going to be the easiest of listening experiences if you’re just looking for a song to throw on in the background while you’re doing something else. There’s quite a lot to wrap your head around and I’m not sure if I’ve even managed to do that yet myself. Sari’s vocals aren’t quite as unconventional as the instrumental is here, which is probably a good thing as their warm, breathy flow does smooth over some of the rougher edges of the track and the lyrics add some hooks that are a bit less brain bending and more easily accessible than the sort of stuff being thrown up by the instrumental. She does still have her moments where she gets swept up in the motions though and we get some more experimental, higher pitched deliveries that are a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion. I can see this track being very divisive due to its very experimental nature but I think there’s still enough elements involved that are easier to digest that a lot of people could probably come to appreciate it in time if they give it enough of a chance. A bit of an ask for most casual listeners though I would imagine.

The mini-album’s third track “shokyushi” brings things back down to earth in a highly contrasting way, as the song’s ambient Chill-Hop style is very much the antithesis of what we’d just been hearing on the track previous to this one. Hazy synth tones are the canvas upon which piano, mild orchestral elements and a genre appropriate beat are painted and there’s definitely a much more relaxed, somewhat classy vibe going on here that should be a lot kinder to the ears of most people. The instrumental is also done in a very contemporary and currently quite popular style so there’s a decent chance of this song appealing to a good number of people should they have the occasion to be able to hear it. The vocals are giving off that great, rich tone that Sari hasn’t been afraid to show off since going solo and we even get to hear a bit of her higher range as highlights of sorts when she isn’t also harmonizing rather beautifully with herself thanks to some creative post-production techniques. We even get a bit of Rap going on, which probably isn’t something that most would have ever expected to hear out of Sari but she pulls it off here incredibly well to her credit. Quite the array of vocal styles on show here, which definitely spices up a style of song that can be a bit played out at this point, though I’m still not sure about what’s going on with the instrumental in the bridge. That very granular…guitar riff I think it was is pretty interesting but definitely took me a few listens to really get used to and I’m still not sure how well it fits in the grand scheme of things. That said, this is a great track and easily the most accessible thing we’ve heard so far on this release so check it out and see what you think.

I sort of struggled to come up with a good way of describing the instrumental for the mini-album’s fourth track “sari no shitaku” but in the end I think I finally settled on “playfully chaotic”. The synthesizers are nice and warm, with a sort of City Pop ambiance to them which as a fan of that genre I found myself enjoying quite a bit and it’s all quite bright and fairly positive in tone. The chaotic side of things comes in the form of the track’s main beat which isn’t really trying to go out of its way to compliment the rest of the instrumental but in a weird way after a while it just sort of clicks in your head and it starts to make a lot more sense somehow. Well, that’s what ended up happening for me but initially this was another track that I had to take some time to get my head around. Sari’s vocals are sounding a lot more conventional though, being delivered in a breathy Pop style that seems to be her new go to when it comes to the sort of music that she’s producing these days. It adds a nice clean, melodic component to the fuzzier, out of sync instrumental and it cuts through quite nicely. The lyrics are catchy and the way that the vocals sort of float along is very much a tried and true feature of this sort of style. On the whole this is another pretty accessible track, though the beat might take a few plays to get used to due to its intentionally awkward rhythm. If you can get past that though then we’ve got another really enjoyable song in yet another different style so plenty of variety on show so far here. Kinda hard to believe that this is a Kei Toriki composition though, all things considered.

You sort of expect there to be a slower sort of song on this release in some point in some shape or form and I guess “tohiko” is where it finally makes its appearance. Much slower and more deliberate in its pacing than the other tracks featured on the release and introducing a different sort of atmosphere than we’ve heard so far too as a result. The beat is pretty much the main focus of the instrumental with a few other elements weaved around it like piano or a synthesizer melody that are all quite catchy and ear pleasing in their own right, but the main standout is the steady and yeah pretty repetitive beat that’s acting as the main backbone of the track. It’s probably not the most complex or flashy thing you’ll hear out of this release but I kind of appreciate the fact that we’re changing things up like this. We get another pretty mellow, Chill-Hop style vocal performance out of Sari on this too which definitely works well with the lower tension of the instrumental and her melodies are given plenty of room to ring out nice and clearly over the lower tone beats that I mentioned previously. Much like the instrumental, the lyrics are fairly repetitive here too but that’s not a bad thing I don’t think and I also think that trying to do anything else wouldn’t have really flowed as well with the rest of the track. Pretty straightforward stuff but like I said, it’s a nice change of pace in the wider context of the mini-album and I think if you struggled with some of the other material here then this one should be much easier to get into and digest.

We continue the slower, more relaxed theme to close out the release with its final track “kokyu”. A low tension, piano driven instrumental is the main feature early with just a little bit of fuzz for some added texture before some percussion is brought in to give things a bit of a Maison book girl vibe I suppose would be the easiest way of describing it. It’s pretty chill for the most part, outside of a couple of well placed moments where there’s a spike in the tension, and it’s really interesting to listen to all of the different parts that have been brought together to make a somewhat disjointed but at the same time once again surprisingly cohesive arrangement. Not quite as conventional in nature as the track we just heard previously but very much along similar lines in terms of tone at least. The vocals once again find themselves sitting very comfortably in that breathy, melodic style that’s heard up and down this release and why not when it can be applied to all of these different styles of song. I wouldn’t mind hearing a little bit more variety on future releases perhaps but the melodies are pleasing as always, the lyrics have a logical and smooth flow and there’s a nice amount of Sari’s personality being painted into everything too. A nice way to end off what in my opinion is a very successful first mini-album from a soloist who clearly knows what she wants to do and how to pull it off very effectively indeed.

If you haven’t been following Sari’s budding solo career up to this point then pretty much everything featured on “a u se” is probably going to sound like a very big departure from the sort of music you’d normally associate with her. Some of the tracks definitely aren’t going to be to a lot of peoples’ tastes but I think she does a good job of mixing the experimental side of things with some more contemporary styles and it makes for some unique but still for the most part easy to listen to tracks. I don’t know, I’m pretty open to giving stuff like this a fair shake but if you’re more into stuff that’s like Necronomidol’s sound then you probably aren’t going to have such a great time here at least initially.

Well, I know that this is technically Sari’s second release but I think this mini-album is going to prove to be a really good launchpad for her solo career. There’s certainly plenty in here that can appeal to the right crowd and while she has said recently that she doesn’t plan to play many/any shows until the COVID situation improves, she’s laying the groundwork to be pretty busy once that day eventually comes. Hopefully we’ll get a few more new tracks out of her this year too as I’m really interested to hear what else she can come up with because she definitely doesn’t seem to be pigeonholing herself or doing what most people would probably have expected from her and that’s pretty cool in my book.