ayu's vocals nowadays...

[RoboNyanya]

I was so blown away by the sheer energy and strength she maintained in CDL 04-05, that everything else seems to fall short. I haven't listened to everything from CDL 06-07 yet, but from what I have seen from this and her TV performances this year, she's just not all there. I can understand copping out for a TV performance to save your voice for a concert, but her voice lacks clarity and purity of sound even there. It's more like she's forcing a certain timbre (her 'cute Ayu' voice) too much instead of focusing on producing a better overall tone. Actually, I feel like Ayu tries to disguise her discomfort with singing nicely and overcompensates with too much 'flair' if that makes any sense.

In the performances where I can tell that her voice is not quite up to snuff, I like it better when she just sings her heart out and has fun, than trying to cover it up with the affected nasal voice and 'cute her way out'.

Oh yeah, and about PECO. With the way Ayu's natural voice seems to be going now (and I really like her lower register), I think Peco's vocals are a rather proper complement. It's very different than what we'd expect from the same Ayu who sang Evolution and AUDIENCE and all that, but I think it works for the time being.