02. パワフル
03. コーヒー
04. あなたと太陽
05. 地図
06. 塵
07. アイス
08. 踊り
09. 産声
10. 時計
11. 小さな窓
12. 日常
13. 冬 -Live at Ebisu The Garden Hall-
14. マネキン -Live at Ebisu The Garden Hall-
15. 炎 -Live at Ebisu The Garden Hall-
Flower Flower is a band that was founded by solo singer Yui after her retirement. Yui's career gave her huge fame in Japan from the early 2000s to 2012 with most of her releases charting in the top ten on the Oricon Charts. She decided to take a break because she wasn't happy behind the scenes so Flower Flower was a way for her to continue making music in her own way. The band has saw success due to Yui and has continued to release music. Spotlight is the band's newest album after Yui gave birth to twins a little while ago.
Spotlight excels in all the ways that the other albums by Flower Flower did not. I can remember listening to the other albums just because I'm a fan of Yui and feeling like the albums fell short somehow. Music on these albums left like their wasn't enough of Yui's music creator abilities in these albums tracks or the band was still getting a feel for each other's groove. All the bumps must have been sorted out of the band's chemistry according to the way Spotlight comes for listener's attention from the first guitar chord played in the album's opener. What can defiantly be said about Spotlight mostly is that the tracks sound like they came from Yui herself even more this time around. If you know of her albums, you know that all of her albums are solid in good musical content. A listener can listen to one of her albums from front to back without skipping songs thanks to the magic her artistry demands. Spotlight lives in this same space but adds a new school edge to what Yui might not have been able to do as a solo singer. The tracks use a electronically rock style based on Keyboard arrangements that are placed around the playing of the guitar and drums. Base guitar brings in a stable undertone for the bass guitar to get lively. If you listen, the guitar playing is moving all over the place using edgy solos and held out chords. Yui's vocals seem to have become one of a mother as they project so strongly that they echo. Even trumpets are placed in a track just to show that Flower Flower has more than a few tricks up their sleeves for future albums. I would also say that the album is trying to move toward the Ganki style during certain parts of Spotlight but it works for the new direction of their sound. The album as a whole is a lot better than their past albums. More than a few of the tracks sound a bit like what I imagine Yui's music would have sounded like if she had continued a solo career which makes me satisfied with Spotlight overall.
Yui comes back full of energy here. I didn't have high expectations for this album but she was more than ready to be the front women that Flower Flower needs. It seems to me like she has more freedom to play around with her music than she did as a solo singer. This can be heard in the different methods used in Spotlight. One method that I really liked was how she sings in a whisper and talks as the band plays through the instrumental. It adds a dark vibe to Flower Flower's music. Her voice might not be for everyone though. I have heard people complain that her voice is too high for their taste and I respect that. She can get a to be a bit high pitched but never squeaky in my opinion.
Flower Flower is creating their own presence away from Yui's legacy while also continuing to use it. I enjoyed listening to Spotlight more than the other albums. The other albums only had one, maybe two songs that I really liked.
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