RIGEL “Break it Down” (Review)

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In what is their first ever single – “Now or Never” is their first song but it was part of a drama cd – Rigel impress us with a colorful performance full of exciting moments.

For those of you that might not know, Yuki InoueKeisuke Furuhata, Junya Komatsu and Tatsuya Tokutake are the members of Rigel.

rigel
Top (left to right): Ichigaya Rintarou (Yuki Inoue), Shibuya Yousuke (Junya Komatsu) // Bottom (left to right): Tatsumi Maki (Keisuke Furuhata) and Osaki Izumo (Tatsuya Tokutake)

rigel

Title: Break it Down
Release date: 15/02/2017 
Label: Tsukicro 
Genre: Dance Pop

Tracklist:

1.Break It Down
2.Ki-Ra-Ri☆
3.花言葉

Track by track analysis:

1.Break It Down

Break It Down” is mid-tempo dance tune that mixes raging guitars with hits and bits of dubstep on it. The song features rather quiet verses, unleashing some of the energy in the chorus. If you’re a fan of the “Actors” series, the instrumental is a bit like in most of those songs. In this mix of rock with electronica we find an interesting vocal performance. Although we’re not familiar with the group at the moment, much less with each and every voice tone present we need to say that there were instances in which the vocal performance wasn’t at its best but thankfully there were two members that covered for those mistakes. 4/5

2.Ki-Ra-Ri☆

The best song in this single is by far this one. With a traditional tone set by the background melody provided by the synths, Ki-Ra-Ri☆ is yet another dance tune, but this time around packing a bigger punch than the previous song. Both the instrumental and the vocal performances are alive, enveloping the listeners right from the start. The outro plays out in fantastic fashion, displaying the work of synth pads and piano parts in a exciting melody. This time around the vocal performances sound right with no off key moments or anything of the sort. 5/5

3.花言葉

And we complete this single with a beautiful ballad. With a carefully crafted instrumental relying on acoustic guitars, piano and strings, 花言葉 showcases a different side to RIGEL. The level of emotion is high on this song with the chorus being the highlight both instrumentally as well as vocally. But if you’re not a fan of those spoken lines in the middle of the song, maybe, just maybe this song will not click with you. Other than that, this song could have been the best in this release. 4.5/5

Final rating:4.5 stars

We’re still not familiar with the group but one thing we can say, RIGEL already show a lot of potential with this second single. They’re heavily rooted in electronica music, lending a lot from all sub genres within it. Their performances are colorful and the instrumentals rich – with various layers of synth pads, stabs, minimal percussion between many other unnoticeable things for the untrained ears. Vocally this unit has its strengths. We still don’t know for sure who it is among the members (Keisuke Furuhata or Junya Komatsu) – if you do don’t hesitate to point it out in our comment section – but there’s one of them ranging from low to mid-tones that skillfully used a powerful vibrato in most of the songs. He’s the one that stood out  from the get-go. The other members have rather interesting voice colors but we still need to listen more from them before pointing out anything.

With that being said, “Break it Down” is an exciting release or wouldn’t they be from Tsukino-Pro (most especifically Tsukicro), known for excellent instrumentals and believable vocal performances for every single one of their units.

We’ll certainly be on the lookout for more releases from them.

Break it Down” is available for purchase on CDJAPAN for all overseas fans.

Break It Down / Rigel <Rintaro Ichigaya (CV: Yuki Inoue), Izumo Osaki (CV: Keisuke Furuhata), Yosuke Shibuya (CV: Junya Komatsu), Maki Tatsumi (CV: Tatsuya Tokutake) from Gekidan Altair>
Rigel <Rintaro Ichigaya (CV: Yuki Inoue), Izumo Osaki (CV: Keisuke Furuhata), Yosuke Shibuya (CV: Junya Komatsu), Maki Tatsumi (CV: Tatsuya Tokutake) from Gekidan Altair>

 

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Vanessa Silva
Vanessa Silvahttps://www.handthatfeedshq.com
The Hand That Feeds HQ founder, content creator, and music reviewer. Basically, the only person managing everything at The Hand That Feeds HQ. Stumbling upon Mamoru Miyano's "Orpheus" in 2011 was the start of this journey. If music is thought-provoking or deep, you may find her writing almost essays (not limited to, but it happens a lot with Soma Saito's music). She's the producer and host of the male seiyuu-centric podcast, SEIYUU LOUNGE (see Spotify link in this profile).

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