MEZZO” “Dear Butterfly” (Review)

MEZZO” returns with “Dear Butterfly“, a single that is here to impress everyone with stunning vocals and high quality instrumentals.

Title: Dear Butterfly
Label: Lantis
Release date: 22/11/2017
Genre: J-Pop/Ballad

Tracklist:

1. Dear Butterfly
2. 月明かりイルミネイト
3. Dear Butterfly (Off Vocal)
4. 月明かりイルミネイト (OFF VOCAL)

Track by track analysis:

1. Dear Butterfly

Dear Butterfly” has an instrumental that brings out a sweet and warm vibe.

You are welcomed with a sweet and simple piano melody – that later will be looping in the background -, after that minimal synths and strings mix with slow-paced percussion – mainly a bass drum and some edited dubstep-ish percussion bits.

The percussion triplets enhance the pace of the song but only a little bit, this is a slow-paced song, not a high-tension dancefloor anthem.

The looping piano melody alongside the progressive instrumentalization in the verses makes for a contrasting, yet interesting mix that tastes like a ballad but sounds like a minimal dance tune.

The vocal performances are as expected. Chemistry is something this duo doesn’t lack, and alongside that chemistry is their individual singing skills that together make this song even sweeter and richer. A unique ballad that left me wanting more.

2. 月明かりイルミネイト

Even though 月明かりイルミネイト (Moonlight Illuminate) was released earlier this year, we feel like that review itself needs an update, especially after all the polish this unit has been doing to their vocals in the last couple of years and how well this song fits on this specific release.

For those that never heard this song, “Moonlight Illuminate” is the very definition of a textbook ballad.

As soon as the song starts, you’ll listen to the melancholic lyrics, dramatic piano, acoustic guitars, and slow and well-paced instrumental and you’ll instantly know that you’re in for an emotional ride.

The vocals are heavenly, Abe’s falsetto and ad-libs shine, KENN’s performance leaves a sweet aftertaste and the harmonies between them reinforce what we’ve been saying about this unit, they are incredibly well balanced.

It seems that every single element about this song is layered out in a way that will make the listener emotionally invested in this song.

Moonlight Illuminate” is one of the most beautiful ballads I’ve heard from a 2D idol group. Painfully sweet, a song that will mess with your emotions.


Final considerations

Dear Butterfly” makes great use of MEZZO”’s top-tier singing skills. Known for their powerful and sweet ballads, this subunit brought to us two completely different pieces.

The title track, “Dear Butterfly” was able to mix dance elements with melancholic lyrics. This is certainly not the first time MEZZO” actually embrace this kind of mix for one of their songs, but we weren’t expecting it for this release.

Surprise aside, the title track didn’t suffocate the listener with overwhelming percussion or heavy synth leads, those elements were kept to a minimum to preserve the song’s underlining ballad feel.

月明かりイルミネイト (Moonlight Illuminate) is far from being a new song in Mezzo’s repertoire. As a matter of fact, I don’t really understand why this song was re-released in a 2-song single given that nothing has changed about it.

However, this song is by far the best ballad in their repertoire up until now as well as the best ballad coming from the IDOLiSH7 franchise. It’s nice to listen to it again after a couple of months without touching on it for a while. That is the perfect ballad for this Autumn, sweet but painful at the same time.

So far, MEZZO”‘s members show that, among IDOLiSH7 (the unit), they have the best singing skills.

People might argue that Toshiki Masuda, Takuya Eguchi, or even Kensho Ono are better or more complete (they are inconsistent most of the time – some more than others – depending on vocal directions and character tones required to perform IDOLiSH7’s songs) but, in reality, Abe and KENN are the ones that have been displaying more than we expected and, with each MEZZO” release, they keep on impressing everyone with their flawless vocals.

You can tell that Abe has been polishing his vibrato and falsetto, although KENN had always had a sweet, smooth singing tone that fits incredibly well with ballads, we noticed that he’s been polishing his performances in order to not have a flaw on it.

This duo really excels at what they do. The vocal performances for both tracks are heavenly good and the instrumentals were equally great. There’s really nothing to pick on with these singles.

Top marks for a top release.


Dear Butterfly” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.

Dear Butterfly / MEZZO"
MEZZO”

 

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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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REVIEW OVERVIEW

Dear Butterfly
月明かりイルミネイト

SUMMARY

“Dear Butterfly” makes great use of MEZZO"’s top-tier singing skills. Known for their powerful and sweet ballads, this subunit brought to us two completely different pieces.

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“Dear Butterfly” makes great use of MEZZO"’s top-tier singing skills. Known for their powerful and sweet ballads, this subunit brought to us two completely different pieces. MEZZO" "Dear Butterfly" (Review)