DIV - BUTTERFLY DREAMER/you

[fitear1590 2414]

“BUTTERFLY DREAMER” opens up with some galactic synths and Chisa doing a soft version of the song’s chorus before exploding into chuggy riffs that lead us into the first verse.  One of the things I particularly enjoy in this track are Chisa’s distant “ahhh” background vocals during the chorus; I can’t put my finger on why that adds to my enjoyment, but it just makes the chorus more epic.  Throughout the song, crackles, bleeps, and other electronic elements add to the song’s arrangement.  Towards the end of the song, the band has a cool little breakdown, before proceeding back to a bridge with blissful synths.   I think Shaneth mentioned at some point that BUTTERFLY DREAMER was solid, but that the band has already done this type of song before.  While that’s true, I think this song has much more interesting composition than, say, previous singles “ANSWER” or “夏の行方.”  DIV is steadily improving and I’m loving it.  My very small complaint with the song is Chisa’s weak harsh vocals.  His “acapella” growl at the end of the song consistently puts a slight cringe on my face, haha.
 

“rainy,rainy,smiles.” begins with some ambient electronics and “piano synth” (reminiscent of something UNiTE would use).  The whole song is generally quite dainty and pleasant, but the verses introduce the occasional heavy-ish part and even the synths become more “aggressive” to match these parts.  The main issue with this song is that it doesn’t really deviate from the twinkly, light sound enough to make much of an impression; the chorus kind of blends in with the rest of the song.  Now don’t get me wrong, I think b-sides are often underappreciated and I can definitely see myself still listening to this song months down the road, but “rainy,rainy,smiles.” is never going to be “the” song that gets people into DIV or that seasoned DIV fans pick as their favorite.

“you” is a good example of DIV’s more ballad-oriented pop-rock style.  It’s happy and lighthearted, but it also packs a punch, musically.  The chorus is very sweet and is also followed up by some impressive guitar riffs/ a mini-solo on Shogo’s part.  In the middle of the song, things calm down with some chilled out synths and a ~gentle~ version of the chorus.  The song is very much in the vein of “I swear” from the ZERO ONE album, which probably somewhat explains why I enjoy this one too.  One tiny thing I don’t really enjoy about the song are the repeated riffs which open and end the track; they just don’t seem to fit that well.  Interestingly enough, I preferred this when I first saw the PVs for “you” and “BUTTERFLY DREAMER,” but I’m starting to rethink that.  I mean no offense to “you,” because it’s a lovely track, but I think “BUTTERFLY DREAMER” has proven to be slightly more interesting with closer listening.

 

“Cinderella” features a funky beat that’s quite different from DIV’s usual style.  The closest thing would probably be “赤裸々ララ” from the album.  Bassist Chobi gets to shine a little bit on this track.  This is probably the kind of song that is super fun to hear live.  Unfortunately, similar to “rainy,rainy,smiles.” the song has kind of one note the whole time, besides a freakout guitar solo in the middle.   Plus, the chorus isn’t that good.  Weirdly enough, he’s singing about “Venus” (at least as far as I can hear) and he does this in “赤裸々ララ” as well.  Not my favorite song, but a cool addition to their discography I suppose.

Overall, we have two solid singles, with "BUTTERFLY DREAMER" arguably being the stronger one.  Aside from my minor gripes, there's nothing "bad" about any of the songs.  "Cinderella" and "rainy,rainy,smiles." might be forgettable in the long run, but they're still enjoyable nonetheless.  In fact, the only real tragedy is the absolutely awful and random cover art for "BUTTERFLY DREAMER" (the limited edition, at least).  The PV for the song is actually quite visually stunning and I can think of a ton of stills from that that would've been better for the cover.  ANYWAY, I think "BUTTERFLY DREAMER" and "you" (the songs) would have been more than fitting on the ZERO ONE album, which for me is the new bar the band has set for itself.  Here's hoping their next single will continue this trend.

[hiroki 5521]

I don't have much to add to fitear's wonderful review.

For me, "you" was marginally more enjoyable than "BUTTERFLY DREAMER", which is unsurprising given that I have virtually zero resistance against good vk ballads XD

I agree that DIV has improved tremendously in their composition and choice of synth effects in enhancing their music. As opposed to some of their earlier songs in which electronic elements might have interfered with their music, the 'echo' effects deployed in "you" - especially in the quieter sections - provided good depth to Chisa's voice. The transition from the "break" to the final refrain was also extremely well executed.

Some remarks on Cinderalla: it has a groovy, dance-y feel which, like fitear has rightly pointed out, is quite different from DIV's normal style. I think it's fantastic that the band is willing to try something different, although I think that also inevitably exposes some potential weaknesses in Chisa's vocals. This song would be perfect for a set of vocals with more "character" than Chisa's - especially when he hits the "Ve-nus" in the chorus, which I thought was kinda 'flat'. Nevertheless, I think it's interesting that they have used synth elements to augment his vocals and to a large extent successfully helped to cover this lack.

These are two exquisite singles that not only demonstrate how much the band has matured, but also draw our attention to the variety that constitutes their rapidly expanding repertoire. Hopefully they release something that can challenge "VANISH" (my favorite DIV song!) soon

[Tetora 625]

As for the cover arts, I loved the Butterfly Dreamer ones actually, it was different and cool. I like that they and they dont use the market positioning having a band full of good looking guys selling the cds to girls. All their covers are different and cool to me. You's cover is more consistent to their history, but I liked that,Butterfly coverd stepped outside their.mould and VK marketing in general.

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

fitear did do a wonderful job, but I'll just add my own few thoughts on it:

 

My favorite of all four songs is probably Rainy, Rainy, Smiles. I like it's ambient feel, like it's actually raining. It gets the mood across excellently.

You is my second favorite. This song also gives off the feeling well, it makes me feel like it's springtime (which it almost is) and makes me feel warm.

Butterfly Dreamer is my third, seeing as it is pretty standard Div fair and it guarantees I will like it.

Cinderella is my least favorite. Can't explain why, it just didn't click with me.