Accént - Ameagari / Future

An unintended consequence of BABYMETAL's overseas success has been the stereotyping of young girls involved in Japanese music as helium-voiced pixies. Mercifully, there’re plenty of examples to counter that misconception. For instance, the 'girls rock' scene saw a big influx of youthful bands such as BRATS, Tancobuchin and Ganbare! Victory (to name a few) after the likes of SCANDAL and FLiP revived Japan's all-female rock band movement in the late 2000s. None were as young as Accént though.

Formed in early 2017 by childhood friends Kanon and Haru, then aged ten, the trio was completed with the addition of nine-year-old drumming prodigy Fumi. With the help of some enthusiastic relatives (and a handpuppet called Kuma), these girls have built a burgeoning fanbase through YouTube cover videos, a strong social media presence, and more recently, periodic livestreamed performances. Last February, Accént took the step of releasing their debut single, the double A-side Ameagari / Future.

Despite the trio's shared fandom of SILENT SIREN, there's no sign of the glossy synths so beloved by their biggest influence. Rather, the single's contents have more in common with the stripped-down pop-rock of Stereopony. The genre doesn’t lend itself to showcasing virtuoso musicianship, but Kanon demonstrates some good riff work in Ameagari’s intro and her solo on Future.

Both songs' greatest asset are the lyrics written by bassist Haru, translations of which Accént provide on YouTube. Not only do they show more maturity than anything Yasushi Akimoto’s written recently, they also provide the foundation for the overlapping harmonies in Ameagari’s chorus and Future’s outright infectious English hook. The earnest vocals are sometimes overpowered by Fumi’s muscular drumming, but that’s simply a pitfall of indie music production.

At this stage in a review of a record like this, most writers would usually embark on some self-deprecatory reflection on what they were doing when they were twelve. Instead, let’s take a moment to appreciate the lack of gimmickry in Accént’s work. Their publicity shots feature none of the excessive ‘kawaiification’ you often see with idols their age, and their songwriting is free of many of the clichés that artists twice their age lean on.

As the late Clarence Clemons might say, what we have here are just three girls pouring their hearts and souls into what they're doing.