ヒトリエ [HITORIE] - WONDER and WONDER

[sai 868]

 

Artist: ヒトリエ

Album: WONDER and WONDER

Score:

 

Having an incredible musical allergy against all things Vocaloid-related, Hitorie shows that having Vocaloid roots does not always equal terrible taste. In fact, I'm going to be as bold as to say that Hitorie basically dropped the best indie-rock album of 2014.

WONDER and WONDER is the band's debut album, after their incredibly solid first single and mini-album. The bar for this album was thus set incredibly high, yet I was not worried that this album would disappoint me the second they dropped the music video and the previews. If you're not into Ling Toshite Sigure because of TK and the shrill noises, Hitorie is the band for you.

Hitorie's vocalist has a very pleasant voice. He's not the best vocalist but he's incredibly well in synch with the rest of his band. Hitorie's strength lies in their own sound. Despite being a very young band, they have thoroughly established their own sound, a sound that is similar to other bands but still has something quite unique about it that makes you say "this is Hitorie!". Their combination of diverse melodies and catchy hooks makes them one of the best newcomers of the year.

WONDER and WONDER is a showcase of everything Hitorie has to offer. The album is mostly made up of upbeat songs, but they differ a lot from eachother despite all executing the same signature sound. Hitorie found their formula, but isn't afraid to experiment within their formula instead of constantly churning out the same exact song as some other bands tend to do. From the incredibly well done ballad 癖 to the minimal なぜなぜ and the fun upbeat 我楽多遊び, this band shows a lot of different sides of itself. There was not a single song on this album that I did not like or  considered average. The second half of the album is better than the first half in my opinion, but in general the quality is good throughout the entire album.

What also makes this album so good is that it's fun. It makes you want to get out of your chair and dance along to the incredibly catchy tunes.

While this review might not be as in-depth as those of the Review squad, I do hope I've managed to make you at least a tiny bit interested in this album. It's just a fantastic album from start to finish and I can hardly find any flaws. I don't rate albums five starts often, but when I do, it's Hitorie.

 

Final verdict: - It's just that good.

[Koike 301]

These guys were completely new to me, even the previous vocaloid stuff, but as you mentioned, they have quite recognizable style and vocalist blends really well with the instruments. The album itself felt really solid combination as some songs felt like they shared same story and theme with others.

 

 

終着点 begins quite fast but steadies after the first couple beats and chords. Vocalist sounds pleasant and doesn't stand too overblowingly. I personally loved the bass in chorus and final pre-chorus. It stood up beautifully and created some depth to the sound.

 

インパーフェクション was really catchy! Almost started jumping around my room when it began. Verse had really マトリョシカ'ish feeling on it, but it didn't bother me and the chorus was catchy and once again the bass was amazing in final chorus/outro.

 

N/A intro and outro rocked so much! After the intro, the song turned a bit dull and simple compared to the other songs and I didn't really like how they finished it but then 5カウントハロー  started which almost felt like a fast forward sequel to it. Both songs had quite eerie-like bridge also. Amazing consistency between these two, even though N/A was a bit too repetitive.

 

Oh boy ピューパ・シネマ and its distorted intro. This song took me into some oriental metropolis and I was just running around there observing everything. Bass was really noticeable again and it feels like it is one of their strongest points. Bridge was rather long, but the acoustic part in the end of it was great addition.

 

癖 was nice breathing room after all this pounding and energetic outbursts this album had been so far. Vocalist showed that he can sing heartbreaking tunes also, but it didn't turn the song into sobfest, but it actually felt rather relieving.

 

NONSENSE was just like the name suggested. Crazy intro to huge outburst of guitar and drums. So much stuff happening in the verse and suddenly it turns more peaceful just to burst into fastpaced chorus with bass once again having nice groovy tune on the back. Bridge was also nice in this one as it highlighted the drums quite a lot. One of my favourite tracks!

 

ボートマン first sounded like it was some love child of 5カウントハロー, but the verse was a bit more minimalist than in it, and the pre-chorus was a bit of a disappointment. Chorus was catchy though, and it had nice groove in it, but the outro was a bit out of the place. Probably my least favourite track in this album.

 

なぜなぜ was a great minimal, and the chorus got this same oriental theme as ピューパ・シネマ. The vocals were not too over the top and the whole oriental'ish sound complimented it quite well.

 

In 我楽多遊び the instruments were really over the top, but that's what this band is about. A lot of different vibes, with the same oriental'ish guitar sound in it. This was also really cheerful and enjoyable.

 

Bass had really strong influence in ゴーストロール and the guitar was a bit more "behind" compared to other songs. The verse was nice, but the chorus was a bit too pop'ish for my own taste, but great song nevertheless.

 

Soo, the final song of album, センスレス・ワンダー continued with the fast paced 9001 punches into air/second and it didn't really give me time to breath. It didn't have really traits that stand out compared to other songs, but it was interesting and kept me entertained for the whole time.

 

 

A bit half-assed review, but I seriously recommend this album to every indie rock junkie and those who want to have fast-paced and fun 45 minutes! Just as sai mentioned, the vocals aren't Ling Toshite Sigure level, so it's easier to approach. The bass is really groovy in most of the songs and stands out a lot. Fun, eccentric and joyful would be the three best words to describe this album. Definitely going to keep an eye on these guys' future work.