A little news round-up:
Interviews Chihiro and HYSTERIA producer Shuu Kanematsu did to promote the album:
Natalie,
Flying Postman, Mikiki (Interviews with
Oni and
Kanematsu)
WOWOW is doing a Chihiro special on January 10th! They are airing her three most recent concerts: Syndrome at 5:30 PM JST, BEEKEEPER at 7 PM, and UNHESITATE at 8:30 PM. I hope someone will record and share these, especially UNHESITATE!
Speaking of UNHESITATE, a concert report with some lovely photos was posted on
Chihiro's official site! And here's the setlist:
And finally, HYSTERIA hasn't been out for three days and Chihiro already has a
new song coming up! スロウダンス (Slow Dance), produced by Masayuki Sakamoto (of DOROTHY and Hinagiku fame), is the theme song for Pornographer ~Playback~, a movie entry in the Pornographer franchise to which Chihiro has contributed the songs Twilight Dreams and End of the world. The movie will be coming out on February 26th 2021, no release date for Slow Dance so far.
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With all that out of the way: how are we liking HYSTERIA?
I've been playing the album a lot for the past few days and I'm happy to say it met my expectations! I think these songs turned out more distinct and memorable than a lot of Syndrome (which, in hindsight, had a few too many songs that sounded overworked and too similar). The production and mixing on this album is
fantastic and I feel like the whole album flows really well.
My highlights are Yakeru Kawa (still amazing), Dawn of my faith (so delicate and beautiful), swallow the ocean (softly sorrowful), UNCRIMINAL (chilling, perfect), End of the world (still nostalgic, melancholic, and lovely) and my new big favorite, Boys don't cry (so warm and inviting,
perfectly crafted, I just found it so touching, I was close to tears listening to it for the first time). I don't think any of the songs are really weak links, the rest just have some aspects that I think could be better: Fairytale and Neon Tetra no Hashikatachi sound great but I think both have their more interesting melodies in the verses rather than the chorus, which is a bit of a problem for me; Aoi Haru also sounds fantastic but I think I'd like a little more energy, fierceness, rock attitude in Chihiro's delivery. Overall, I think this album is really solid and great, I think I'd put it in my top 3 Chihiro albums (along with Insomnia and TRICKY SISTERS MAGIC BURGER).