After wrapping up a huge world/Japanese tour with two massive final gigs, BAND-MAID didn’t take a long break, they released not one, but two singles, glory and Bubble, on January 16th. What’s more, both title tracks were chosen as themes for TV series. The first one is the ending for the anime “Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS”, while the second is now the main theme of the drama “Perfect Crime”. Usually, in this situation a band has two options: to write something completely different from their usual songs or just stick to the familiar style. Luckily, the maids took the second way.
Let’s start with the main tracks. Both are filled with the BAND-MAID’s powerful, recognizable energy, but each differs a lot from the other. glory accelerates right from the start with its igniting opening riff, maintaining the speed over the course of the song with excellent drumming and ‘bouncing’ choruses. For those who got upset over last year’s softness of start over, it’ll be a relief to hear the band offering a powerful and captivating sound again.
On the other hand, at first Bubble seems more relaxed (the catchy beginning, however, is a blast!), but give it a minute. The playful track mixes slow parts with sudden adrenaline outbursts and this rollercoaster leaves a strong impression during the first playback. Generally speaking, the constantly changing rhythm, memorable choruses and overall structure of the track make Bubble the most interesting entry among these four new songs. We bet you will return to this song over and over again for fuelling up.
The situation is slightly different with the B-sides. Smile, Bubble’s coupling track, uses the foolproof approach of acoustic guitar and Saiki’s warm vocal. This duo creates a soft, cosy atmosphere, which wraps you up like a comfortable blanket, while the other instruments serve as support. In other words, this is a great addition to the collection of the maids’ moving tracks. As for hide-and-seek, glory’s partner, it will definitely fire up the crowd during gigs with its speed, and yet the track doesn’t stick in the memory for too long in comparison to others.
Judging by two new singles and last year’s start over, we can conclude that BAND-MAID continue to fine tune their style, experimenting with it and constantly offering something new. From the loud sound of Just Bring It and WORLD DOMINATION the maids have moved to more melodic and rhythmic tunes. It’s still as energetic and rousing as before, but now this effect is achieved with a slightly different and more mature approach. Even after six years and a bunch of strong releases, we have a feeling that the band hasn’t reached its peak form yet and still have a lot of aces up their sleeve. It will be really interesting to discover what BAND-MAID are going to do for their next full album.
