QUARTET NIGHT "Non-Fiction" (Review)

QUARTET NIGHT are back with their second release of their newest collection of duet drama CDs. “Non-Fiction“, sung by Ranmaru and Camus, has an instrumental piece which exudes the fusion of two different styles.

Title: Non-Fiction
Release date: 17/10/2018
Label: Broccoli
Genre: J-Pop

Tracklist:

1 - Non-Fiction
2 - Is the story Non-Fiction? [DRAMA]
3 - Trust [DRAMA]
4 - Conflict [DRAMA]
5 - Lie & Truth [DRAMA]
6 - Non-Fiction (off vocal)

Track analysis:

1- Non-Fiction

Non-Fiction comes strong as the intro is driven by the bass and the orchestral instrumental among which we can identify the cello playing, so when it comes to character, Non-Fiction has all the instruments played by the character in its instrumental piece. The bass in this track starts up by delivering a powerful performance in the intro and then it morphs into an alluring sound. The orchestral portion of the instrumental piece, on the other hand surprisingly, adds some power and grandeur all the while sounding classy and refined. However, when these two elements were combined, problems began to surface. The once balanced instrumental became overwhelming and difficult to listen to as there is not much difference from the performance prior to the chorus, yet when the two where combined it sounded as if the performances where too different and did not mesh well together.

Non-Fiction is sung by Tatsuhisa and Maeno, both of them have vocals that by now are known to blend in well together with one another. Yet, in this track, it sounds as if Maeno is being overly dramatic, which has by now become Camus trademark, while Tatsuhisa is attempting to mimic Maeno’s performance is was clear that Tatsuhisa would struggle when attempting to sing high notes, especially since Ranmaru’s vocal performance is already that of a faux baritone, so it is completely understandable why the seiyuu sounded so strained.