SweetS - Bitter sweets

SweetS is a female pop group that debuted in 2003. The young girls were brought together by auditions and were signed to Avex. Unfortunately, they disbanded in 2006. This single, Bitter sweets, was released in the same year. Three months after the release the group stopped, making the title somewhat ironic.

Bitter sweets appeared in both a CD-only and a CD+DVD version. This review is of the latter, which contains the music clip of the title track.

The title of the first track might suggest a "bittersweet" ballad, but the song starts with a beat and a melody in a high key. The song is a bit laid back, but it's not a ballad. The beat continues throughout the song and is catchy. The girls voices flow well with the music. The vocals sound good, especially if you consider the young age of these five girls, who were 15 and 16 at the time this single was released. This song doesn't suggest this young age, though. The music sounds sort of mature because of the horns, and though the vocals are definitely girly in attitude, the sound is anything but. Bitter sweets is a nice pop song, suited for singing along.

pieces of peace is the second track, and it starts with a steel drum, giving this song a very Caribbean feel. SweetS starts signing in English, and a Japanese verse follows. The vocals are less mature than in the previous song; the "lalala" part also makes it a bit more like a teenage-pop song. It's still a nice song though. The returning steel drums create a summer feeling, and the cheerful vocals add to that feeling. After three minutes, there is a welcome break where the girls rap a bit.

The instrumental versions of both tracks follow. Both songs are well suited for singing along and karaoke, so this is a nice addition to the release. The PV of Bitter sweets suits the young age of SweetS, and while watching it, the songs looses the mature feeling it has when you only listen to the music.

It's a shame that SweetS disbanded shortly after this release. The girls definitely have great voices, and because of their young age they had a promising future in the Jpop world.