L'Arc~en~Ciel - KISS

L’Arc~en~Ciel’s latest album came out nearly three years after their last one, but KISS is well worth waiting for. A strong, solid album that aptly demonstrates L’Arc’s range of styles, KISS takes emotional, heavy tracks and energetic, lighthearted songs and wraps it all up in one neat package. About five months after its release in Japan, the album was also released in Europe.

SEVENTH HEAVEN starts everything off with a welcoming, familiar feel as it was previously released as a single. hyde’s pronunciation of the English lyrics is vastly improved, and the swaying, rolling beat of the song serves as a perfect intro to the album. Following it is Pretty girl, which has a 1960s surf rock feel to it. The atmosphere is light and bouncy, and the drums and bass definitely take the forefront of the party. Then the mood becomes a little heavier with MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM. The opening guitar chords are slow and sharp, defining the poignant song, and hyde’s effortlessly smooth falsettos leave a lasting impression.

From there, Sunadokei takes over. The echoing guitar strumming melts into hyde’s muted vocals for the verses, but the song breaks into an emotionally charged ballad during the choruses. The arrangement perfectly builds up the longing and need, and add that to ken’s free-wheeling guitar solo, Sunadokei immediately becomes one of the album’s best tracks. This makes the transition to the next track a little awkward, as spiral’s heavy drumming feels jarring after something so lyrical. However, despite being unremarkable, spiral picks up the pace with its driving bass line and remains steady all the way.

The atmosphere shifts again with ALONE EN LA VIDA. It opens with Spanish influenced guitar playing and haunting electronic operatic effects. The subtle use of string instruments creates an intricately layered harmony, and the guitar solo in the second half alone makes the song worth listening to. A smooth transition takes us to DAYBREAK’S BELL, which features interesting drumming by yukihiro. But other than that and some nice use of keyboards, the song lacks intensity and doesn’t quite stand out on the album, especially when book-ended by ALONE EN LA VIDA and Umibe. Umibe is a minor key song with plenty of piano playing, and its appeal lies in the way the light melody contrasts with the heavy bass line.

Track nine is THE BLACK ROSE, and it starts with a short piano-trill intro. Then everything jumps in and the song carries a quick pace until the end. The use of a brass section creates a haunting effect of urgency and there’s a jazz-like break after the second chorus and also at the end, giving the track a big band feel. Then it’s Link - KISS Mix-, though for the more recent fans of L’Arc the opening verses might sound a bit similar to the song Glamorous Sky by hyde - and unfortunately, that’s all that’s really memorable about it.

After the lighthearted track, Yuki no ashiato is a little startling, but in a good way. The soft echoes of the background vocals and an acoustic piano play up hyde’s resonating voice, and the entire mood is reverent, as though it were sung in a church. The song becomes more of a rock ballad once the drums kick in, although the drumming seems intrusively loud towards the end, but it never loses the beautiful winter-love-song touch. Finally, the album caps off with Hurry Xmas, a happy, jazzy number that is somehow both out of place and fitting at the same time. It’s definitely far too cheerful and cute to follow Yuki no ashiato, but it’s just right as the ending track as it will leave you with a smile on your face.

Although a few of the tracks on KISS are questionable, the release is still a great piece of work. It’s a testament to L’Arc~en~Ciel’s ability to keep coming out with music worth listening to, and hopefully it won’t be another three years before fans can get their hands on another album!