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Man, it sucks when artists you've loved just cease releasing material that pleases you. JILLE is about to release a new album next month, and I'm really happy for her but I don't think I'll be buying the album. All the songs she's released from it so far have disappointed me: it's all underproduced coffee shop music and no song so far has had a melody compelling enough to overcome the blandness of the sound. I still love her voice, but a voice is not enough to make me pay for an album.
And I have a similar problem with Ikimonogakari: I've listened to all the songs they've released since coming back from their (weirdly short) hiatus but I'm not connecting with them. Their music sounds exactly the same as it mostly did pre-hiatus: overstuffed, directionless, lacking spark. I'll still check out their future material (because I do still have an attachment to them thanks to their older music; I've been listening to a lot of it since most of their albums got added to Spotify and confirmed that yes, those songs still rule) but my enthusiasm has already simmered down.
Their situation makes me think of all the people wishing Ayu would take a break or go on a hiatus to restore her creativity and conclude that a break clearly isn't the simple solution we like to think. Back when Ikimonogakari announced their hiatus, I thought it might do them good and they could come back sounding refreshed... but nah. Creative juices, "quality" and connecting with an artist's music are more complicated than that, and breaks and hiatuses don't necessarily hold any special powers.
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