DuelJewel - es

DuelJewel's first release since their 2006 single aishuu melancholy, es starts off with a huge, theatrical sound. One can literally envision hearing this music as the action theme for a big summer Hollywood blockbuster film. With space-age like synthesizers and cutting guitar, the opening of the tune rises to a crescendo before settling back down to meet the vocal track. While the music continues to be interesting, as various instruments are added in and beats and rhythms change, the vocal track is just not up to par. Not to say that the vocals on this song are bad, on the contrary, Hayato's vocals are sweet and lilting… and a complete mismatch for the song. While the music is huge and sweeping, the vocal track seems better suited to a quieter song. Because of the vast contrast in styles, the vocal track ends up sounding rather flat in comparison to the music. The mismatch isn’t a complete turn-off from the song, and no doubt listeners will find their toe tapping, and possibly even find themselves singing along, but the feeling that this song has major potential that just was not acted upon cannot be shaken. This reviewer feels great disappointment for what this song "could have been", but perhaps this is a song that's best heard live.

In contrast with the sweeping es, the B side track, Outsider is a balls-out, head-banging rock song. With distortion on the vocals and vibrato that perfectly matches the screaming guitars and pounding drums, this song is great fun, and will quickly put the listener in a good mood. A "scream along" rather than a "sing along", Outsider features a steady rhythm that will get even the worst dancer on their feet, if only to head for the mosh pit. Hayato's vocals on this track are anything but flat, and he hits a wide range of vocal styles in this one, from vibrato, to screaming and growling, to straight up rock vocals. Most fans of the band should find this one an easy favorite, and a welcome addition to an otherwise DuelJewel-less year.

While established fans will no doubt want to add this single to their collection, and will probably enjoy it regardless of its shortcomings, though new fans might want to start with one of the band's older releases. All in all, not a bad release, but also not one that lives up to its true potential.