A fairly new group, redballoon is comprised at this time of two brothers; the younger, Koji Muraya, is the vocalist and guitarist, while older brother, Katsunori Muraya, handles the bass. Their single, Yuki no Tsubasa, is their first offering after signing to Sony and recently placed in the oricon charts. Their sound resides in that difficult to define genre of softer or 'pop'-rock although this is no overly produced pop duo.
Considering the newness of redballoon, the listener is mostly unsure as to what to expect as the first track, setsu no tsubasa, begins to play. The band kicks things off with a catchy guitar riff and a bouncy bass line, keeping the song fast and light. Koji's vocals are smooth, pleasant on the ears, and layer over his brother's quick bass work very well. There's very little pop in this song, letting it contentedly remain as a light, fun rock song.
In tracks two and three, the listener gets a healthy dose of techno and pop to mix with the aforementioned rock. Koji's vocals are overall lower here, although he pushes into a higher range during utsuro no ashita; while he thankfully doesn't go out of tune or the like when doing so, he loses a lot of the strength in his voice and will need some extra work if he wants to start venturing that high on a regular basis. His voice in DAYS, in contrast, is gorgeous and the saving grace of an otherwise somewhat disjointed, confused-sounding tune that cannot appear to decide what sort of song it wants to be.
mirai he, the final track, opens with a techno-dance beat that makes regular appearances throughout the rest of this guitar-driven song. It's quick without being at all aggressive but Koji suffers the same trouble he did in the second song as he tries to stretch up into the higher ranges. Thankfully, that spot of trouble isn't enough to ruin mirai he which remains a cute, catchy little song that manages to juggle techno and rock much more ease than the track before it.
This single is far from perfect but certainly not a bad debut from these two brothers. Although they mix their music with a bit of techno, redballoon's songs overall manage to capture a certain simplicity that may also appeal to some rock 'n roll fans who don't mind the lighter side of things. Pop fans may also find something to enjoy here with Koji's smooth vocals and catchy choruses.
