Acid Black Cherry has appeared to be unstoppable over the last year and a half, releasing hit single after hit single. His talented voice and ability to create a broad variety of music allows him to craft some of the best rock music in Japan. But he may have finally outdone himself with the release of "Kuroneko -ADULT BLACK CAT-", a fantastic throwback to the unique jazz-rock style of "Black Cherry" (one of his first and most successful songs). "Kuroneko" really shows how much A.B.C. has refined and improved his musical abilities over the last few years. This song and its PV add to the myriad of reasons why Acid Black Cherry continues to be one of the hottest current visual kei artists on the market.
For those of you who aren't familiar, Acid Black Cherry is the solo project of Yasu. Yasu formed A.B.C. in 2007 after the indefinite hiatus of Janne Da Arc, the popular rock band for which he was the vocalist. Although Acid Black Cherry contains a typical rock band structure of two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer and a vocalist, the instrumentalists are usually considered to be support musicians, so Yasu himself is often referred to as Acid Black Cherry. His musical style ranges from light rock ballads to heavier songs, all of which feature top-notch vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation. A.B.C. is perhaps most known for his lyrics, which range from romantic to overtly sexual, and he has played a variety of romantic roles in the music videos for his songs: male, female, gay, and straight.
"Kuroneko" starts off with screaming guitars followed by an intro reminiscent of big-band or jazz/swing music. In fact, the entire song is filled with a variety of jazz-related instruments. Sounds from saxophones, trumpets, and a piano are all mixed together with the jazzy-sounding guitar riffs. One of the few (and minor) complaints I've had about some of Acid Black Cherry's music is that although the instrumentation is spectacular, it often tends to run together. But "Kuroneko" features more musical moving parts than any of his more recent works, and yet it is so well-produced that it will take you multiple listens before you can truly appreciate the subtle complexities of this song. The chorus is very catchy and the vocal harmonizing in it is done very well. This song is equal parts enchanting and energetic, and I highly recommend everyone listen to it.
The PV for "Kuroneko" matches the excellent quality of the song. In it, Acid Black Cherry plays the role of a mysterious man who seems to have magical powers of seduction. He spends the entire PV meeting and romancing a plain-looking and good-hearted woman in a lounge while singing the song to her. The video seamlessly transitions between those scenes and scenes where A.B.C. performs with his band, as well as scenes that feature him dancing on stage with a group of cat-mask-wearing female dancers in a very retro-themed performance. All things considered, the material is actually quite tame for Acid Black Cherry, but it works well with the theme of the song and ends up leaving the listener with a romantic-yet-mischievous feeling. Unfortunately, there is only a shorter "web-size version" available on A.B.C.'s official Youtube channel, but the Limited Edition version of the single does contain the full PV (you can buy it here). I highly recommend buying it so that you can view the full PV because this might be the best-edited music video that came out this year.
The easiest way to describe this song and its PV is to say that Acid Black Cherry essentially took "Black Cherry", which was from his second single and had a very similar sound, and gave it a complete makeover. The fact that the two songs sound so similar and "Kuroneko" sounds so much better than the already-excellent "Black Cherry" really speaks to how much A.B.C. has improved as an artist over the last few years. I haven't had so much childish fun listening to a song and watching its PV in a very long time. "Kuroneko -ADULT BLACK CAT-" is yet another feather in Acid Black Cherry's cap, and I look forward to what he decides to enchant us with next.
0 comments:
Post a Comment