Zeus 7997 Posted March 27, 2018 It's been three to four years since jazz band 8-eit went on a hiatus to "mature as a band". Based on the phrasing of the hiatus, I thought they would be gone from the scene for a few months, perhaps a year. I was not prepared for the 2007ish visual kei double-speak of "sorry, but we need to get our shit together" that extended their hiatus far past the patience of 95% of their fan base. They chose the worst time to stop; they finally found mild success, with their latest single (at the time) my bullet featured on Japanese commercials. Drama behind the scenes had other plans. For one, vocalist Tsubaki started his own solo project called Tsubaki-VOICE-, because in his mid-40's he saw this as his last opportunity to go solo. The old drummer and keyboardist departed from the band, while guitarist Daisuke Aradate left and returned. Tsubaki-VOICE- held activities for two to three years, but didn't see as much success as the 8-eit, and after a few mini-reunion gigs at weddings they decided on an official return late in 2017. I'm still not sure if the decision to pause activities was worth it. 8-eit slimmed down from a five-piece band to a four-piece band, found a new bassist and drummer, axed the keyboard, and oriented themselves in a direction between old 8-eit and Tsubaki-VOICE-. Their first album, yellow, was released late last year to little fanfare. I still haven't heard it, so I'll settle with a review of the music video of the lead single "yellow" for now. I hadn't noticed how much I loved Matsubara Kiyoshi's (old keyboardist) contributions until I heard this song. I miss them dearly, but his absence doesn't break the music. It will take some adjustment, but there is a lot left to like. Tsubaki is energetic as always, and Daisuke still brings the jazzy rock licks and solos that I remember him for, but the jury is still out on the two new members. The drummer makes eye contact with the viewer on multiple occasions, but the bassist is really into his instrument. The setting alternates between a green screen showcasing various geometric patterns in white and yellow and shots of the band playing against a white screen, stitched together with shots of singular members in black and white. There's no narrative to this PV. It's not as fancy as the liquor bar setting of the "戯れGOLD" PV, and I think this is because the band is working with a smaller budget than in the past. It's way better than the generic white room most visual kei bands do at least once in their career, but this is neither revolutionary nor a cause for inspiration. As far as the song goes...I can see why the internet isn't jumping for joy at the return of this band. It's not their best song, and it's not their worst, but I was expecting a bit more jazz and a bit less rock. Maybe they should think about bringing the keyboard back... In many ways, this is a good music video to start this (hopefully successful) series with because I find it exceedingly average in all respects. It's a good yard stick to measure future music videos against. If you are an 8-eit fan just like me, leave your thoughts below on any aspects to the music or video that stick out (or don't) to you. Hit the like button if you want to read more of my thoughts on various visual and non-visual music videos in the future. 3 Ito, Dillinger and The Reverend reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ito 2438 Posted March 27, 2018 I generally don't give a shit about music videos, and this one is no exception, but I am happy to hear them putting out new music. I agree that the song is pretty average for 8-eit, but I still enjoyed it and it has me hopeful. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
