Kiyoharu - Rinne

Kiyoharu's latest single presents the more emotional side of his work. Unlike his last single, TATTOO, Rinne is less about booming sounds and flashiness, and more about melody and feeling.

Rinne begins with a pleasant guitar driven melody and eases the song into the first verse. Kiyoharu's usually harsher voice is softer, almost gentle, words whispered on the way to a soaring chorus. This track has a feeling of freedom about it, a drifting sound that's different from the tighter rhythms of Kiyoharu's more upbeat music. An instrumental break just over half way through showcases a nice guitar solo, not overly complex, but perfectly complimentary for this particular song. A long track, at six minutes and fifty-two seconds, it doesn’t feel overdone or tiring and will carry the listener all the way through to the last strum of the acoustic guitar.

A slow, melancholic guitar intro leads Hikousen in along with a steady drum beat. Another softer song, Kiyoharu does show off a bit more of his powerful voice on this track, particularly during the choruses. Sounding deeply sorrowful, the different pieces of this track suit his voice very well and a whispered bridge featuring a sharp guitar solo is a nice accent. With increasingly urgent guitar riffs and drum beats, the song spirals through a lengthy instrumental break. Although Hikousen is a good song, it doesn't have the endearing quality that the previous track does, and lacks adequate feeling to carry it through its entire ten and a half minutes.

With two long tracks on one single, some listeners may think that this release is boring, repetitive, but both Rinne and Hikousen are pleasant tunes with enough heart and diversity of sound to pull it off. Kiyoharu's signature vocals, though toned down on this single, will still satisfy die-hard fans.