2019 In Music

[Manimal]

2019 music, we talk about the music that comes out in this year.

BAND-MAID have two new singles out today, "Bubble" and "Glory".

"Bubble" is a little crafty, the verses are full of interplay and little grooves. Saiki keeps the melody while the rest of the band does random things. Quite like Misa's bass playing here, she fills things in nicely. The pre-chorus and bridge are great. The who-oh-oh in the chorus is uncreative and a little cheesy, but I'm not too bothered. A very tame solo by Kanami's standards! "Smile" is the most pop song the band have done since "Love, Passion, Matador". Acoustics and strings, which fit very well. I really like this song it has a great melody and a steady feel. Akane drives it along and Saiki sounds excellent. I like that BAND-MAID is going in a different direction, I just hope they keep the heaviness. This song is a very solid purely J-Pop style track. 

If you think they are softening than "Glory" proves otherwise. This song has been out for a few months and I absolutely love it. The riff is fantastic and jams hard, the drums are excellent, it's an urgent fast paced song with a super catchy chorus. The guitar interplay is great. This song just kicks it, I fricking love this track it's such a power song. It's too short! "The whooole wide-o world!". The b-side "Hide-And-Seek" is pretty awesome. It seems the band did one softer single and one heavier. This song slams, and the second pre-chorus is awesome. Great chorus and fast vocal. Again, Saiki is just the best.

I'm really curious what the next album will be. "Bubble" and "Start Over" where softer releases and "Glory" while great is a few pegs down from what the band was pulling off on World Domination and feels a little less meaty. I hope we get some album songs like "CLANG" on the next album. I don't mind the softer sounds, the band really make them work and I like their first mini-album a lot which is more melodic. So we'll see what they do. I still really like "Start Over" and the hard rocking b-side "Screaming".

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_PWQtc7zVw 

BiSH have a new song "Small Fish" for some Fist Of The North Star 35th Anniversary album because Wack can't stop making them do tie in songs. It's fast paced but honestly not very impressive on first listen. The melody is boring and the vocals are fine but really it's so standard as a song. I hope BiSH stop doing tie-in songs for a bit and just release another album so we can hear the non-single tracks. I think most BiSH listeners are getting sick of everything being for an anime, game or drama.   

[Manimal]

the peggies, Hell Like Heaven

At last, my first album of 2019. the peggies seemed to kind of disappear after 2016 but they came ripping back with "Kimi no Sei" the opening of Bunny Girl. It's a great track and it kicks off this high energy, great sounding J-Rock three piece album. Their sound is nothing unusual J-Rock, but Yuho Kitazawa makes it all work. Her guitar is driving and the tone is just fantastic on this record. Her vocals are also quite good and give it a fun tone. It's pretty consitent the whole way, some things break it up like "Fortune" with it's cool as hell beat and groove, and one song with it's chorus guitars, but otherwise it's song after song of high tempo melodic Rock songs. I like it, very solid and enjoyable to listen to. I might order it off CDJapan. I still feel the peggies have never lived up to the potential of "Love In The Tokyo" which was an awesome, wacky, super catchy little ditty that was just a one off in their discography. Nothing else they've done has felt as loose and silly, but for J-Rock this is a solid album. I just wish there was more to break it up.

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CVhzHwNJ2s   
 
GANG PARADE, LAST 

If I could define GANG PARADE in a word I couldn't because I don't really know what kind of Alt-Idol group they are trying to be. Their music ranges from recycled second rate cliche WACK songs to whatever the hell "HERETIC" is. This album starts awful with "LAST" which is merely BiSH's "Orchestra" but worse. I already don't like "Orchestra" much, and I dislike how WACK keep making the song over and over again for all these groups. But when we get to song 3, "Message" things get interesting. "HERETIC" is sang in some weirdo dialect, it really stands out. There are some good songs, there are some very mediocre songs. It's nothing much, which is what's becoming the norm with Alt-Idol recently, even BiSH have tamed (though "stereo future" is amazing). I hope a cool new group comes out to throw everything off.

   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0pEQFo3y78   

Last In My Cult, 1st Demo 

There is a new Punk Idol group in town. A six piece group who make...well Idol Punk music (vaguely). It's been done of course, but we'll see what becomes of this group, right off the bat I can say this demo is perfectly okay. It rocks, but the girls don't really do much interesting. They sing like idols who where given Hard Rocking track to sing over. Even their promo image is just them wearing jackets with obscure Hardcore Punk patches. The music doesn't really reflect that though, it turns into normal J-Rock pretty quickly. But the point of Idols is to watch them grow, for the beginning this is enough to make me want to know what they do next, all we have is a few pictures and this demo after all. I hope the group improve their sound and singing. I'm very much down for more Idol Punk, there are just so many awesome groups to compete with. I wonder what Last In My Cult will do to stand out? Also when is Seiko going to make music with ZOC? Or will she ever...just remembered that...

When it comes to straight up Punk I've yet to see an Alt-Idol group make a more ripping song than BiSH's minute and a half rampage of "DEADMAN" which I've never forgotten since it came out. That and Seiko's "draw (a) drow" where the two times I've experienced real full on Rock 'n Roll music in the modern age in the form of a new song that just blasted me. I was hoping this demo would have some of that power...but it does not.

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0C1--YJ6kA         

[Manimal]

Seiko what have you done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFD8cyTeOGY     

So she gets Sayumi Michishige a former 6th Generation member of Morning Musume and does this. "Zettai Kanojo" is one of Seiko's top 5 best songs so for her 5th anniversary she does...this new version of it that...I don't know, this is just bad. I don't like this at all. The other girl isn't really anything notable on vocals, the sentiment of Seiko collabing with a former Morning Musume member is fantastic, but the song... Stylistic autotune like this is pretty awful when it's done this way. I really don't know why Seiko's done this haha. Maybe if it wasn't a remake of a beloved song it'd be different but I'm no fan of this. I hope the 2 b-sides, one being another version of "VOID", a solo acoustic song from a certain version of Kusokawa Party, are better than this.

I like the concept of this single, just not the actual song. "Zentai Kanojo" is such a great song originally, it kind of is Seiko's signature song to. The original...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlcpLLJz1J8                                         

[Manimal]

LOONA, [X X]  
 
K-Pop album from 12 member group LOONA that starts with 6 new songs and in a strange move reverses the tracklist of last years [+ +] EP for the last half. This album has a lot of elements from contemporary Pop production of the last few years, with the sleek chill sounds that burst into busy chorus with various things flying around the mix. Some of the songs follow the chill verse into big busy chorus formula, and it doesn't always works for me, but sometimes it does. It's in the verses that I really like this, the singing is great and the sound is fantastic in the quieter parts. I really like the tracks "Perfect Love", "Colours" and "Where You At" which are very solid, with all the nice Pop sounds I like. "Hi High" is a great song also, I heard this one last year, it has an awesome verse/instrumental and jamming chorus. The vocal sound is excellent, it has that sentimental department store speaker sound I love at times, which is something I always look for in music, because it's nice. Songs like "Butterfly" and "favOriTe" I don't like so much. I like maybe 70% of this album, it has maybe 4 or 5 songs I'll take away. I think this is the first K-Idol album I've listened to all the way.

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glldcQh30WU   

Satoko Shibata's upcoming album might be something to look out for. This video/song is, strangely gripping.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMQBV1xfoNM 
What the...this dork is awesome. How did I miss her before? She might be my new J-Pop love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hB4lCbK8uo                     

[Manimal]

Two new songs from Carly Rae, "Now That I Found You" and "No Drug Like Me". They're enjoyable songs, still some 80's elements but with a lot of contemporary production elements. Neither song makes me go, WOW, right off the bat. The production is not too bad, and the 80's ass bass on "No Drug Like Me" along some other details is cool. So far the three songs we've heard from this are, not bad, but hhhm, I don't know, I think my expectations are unrealistic, these are good tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyP_JyP1QJg 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVocX_uNTIU 

Seiko has a music video for VOID, a b-side on here next single. Since it...is a Kusokawa Party song in a new arrangement it sounds pretty similar but with a lot more of a rougher sound. It's pretty fast paced and the band sounds trashy. The chorus is great, it's just so clearly an acoustic Seiko gone full band, it's a total rampage through the short run time. It's a hell of a lot better than the terrible "Zettai Kanojo" remake, but it's not anything special. One more song to hear from the single...please be actually good....c'mon Seiko.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18oGNDVC6rg

Mio, former PASSPO member, is in a three piece rock band now! She played bass in Band PASSPO so it seems like she kept that up. This is really awesome actually! I quite like this tune, certainly I will follow this group, BabooBee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAobQiRo5yE

[Manimal]

LADYBABY's new song is their best since reforming. "Riot Anthem". With this new line-up they have become more formidable and clear in their goal. More so than the last stint. Rie is certainly a top Alt-Idol. This song is pretty cool, a little wonk it parts though.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMWwyRSsL5E     

EMPiRE's new single is fairly decent. They still don't stick out too much, I don't know what their thing is, but I like this song. I did order THE EMPiRE STRiKES START on cassette though, since of course I was going to buy an Idol album on tape. EMPiRE, GANG PARADE and the new BiS all kind of blend in a bit, with some good songs here and there. "Jealously Marionette" from LAST GANG PARADE is an absolute jam that I love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7rAg1OQ79c

PASSCODE have a new album coming out April 3rd, Clarity. "Taking You Out" and "Tonight" where awesome singles so this album has potential. The group is a great mix of styles in it's own crazy way. Silent Siren have a new album, 31313 coming on the 13th. They always deliver some great tunes so I'll check it out for sure. I don't like all the 13's though. 13 songs, the drummer's birthday is the 13th and it's a year and three months after their previous album. Silent Siren are nothing is not incredibly consistent, they have their own style, and they never really do much else, even that time they wrote an awesome song for PASSPO, but it works. Maybe one day they will change it up... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm0Vujr7sbg   

I reeeeeally underrated BiSH's "stereo future" from the end of last year. It's an excellent song, in fact one of their best songs. The strings are awesome and it's a real epic, the chorus is fantastic. Aina, Chiiti & Ayuni are the power trio, Ayuni really sounds great on it. I just love this song and this live video says it all. This is the best live performance clip I've seen of anything in recent times besides BAND-MAID. I'd buy the DVD if it wasn't an insane amount, I'll just wait till it's online. I've been watching BiSH concerts recently, their long but awesome. This clip shows how they've evolved as artists since the beginning, the music might not be quite as good but they are much better as performers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLo6WJ4y_Vc     

I think 2019 will be a 90% J-Pop year for my music listening.   

[Manimal]

Silent Siren, 31313   

The cutest and softest sounding J-Rock band returns with a 13 track album. The band hit their stride with 2016's S, sounding more solid and developed in their sound. 2017's Girls Power had great songs like "Fujiyama Disco" but it was a bit dull by the end. "Mujuuryoku Dance" is awesome, great keyboard parts. "ALC.Monster" is a different song. It rocks really hard but has robotic vocals by...I have no idea who did the main vocal, it doesn't sound like Suu. "Tenkaippin no Theme" is really fun. "Sotsugyou" I loved right away from the intro and it only got better. From verse 1 I was like, okay this is the best song. Yukarun does a small piano part instead of he normal keyboards and it sounds great over the driving music, especially with the quiet acoustic backing. Man this song is excellent, their best one since "alarm" I think! "19 summer note." rocks, actually this is Silent Siren's most Rock album. They've always made fast driving music, but it's songs like this and "Attack", with Ainyan laying down some pretty ripping slap bass, that make me go, damn. Silent Siren can play, and they get better everytime. This is their best album yet. But um, "Happy Song For You" with it's Happy Birthday bit is um...well it's a fun song besides that part.

I'm mostly impressed, I didn't expect 31313 to be this good. For sure one to order on CDJapan, along with the peggies' Hell Like Heaven which is a good companion to this album. 

   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=798yCee_6mA   

[Manimal]

BiS "Are You Ready"....unbelievable. You really gotta see/hear all of this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCQKAXoenBU

I haven't cared for this new BiS without Pour Lui, even original BiS I'm a bigger fan of the videos/idea than the songs. I've seen some of the new BiS videos and stuff and it's all been meh, but this video is on a different level. First off all this is basically the first Idol-Prog song I've ever heard. 11:24 minutes and a clear tribute to "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the intro and quick jumps in the song. It's the song and video that make this...modern art. I got goosebumps at the end of this video, it's the old BiS spirit carried on. This is a really fantastic video and, it's one to just watch it attentively and go, wow.   

Rei Kuromiya, formerly in Ladybaby, has a new video for her cool straight on Rock band BRATS. Her voice is awesome! Really cool song as well! I didn't realize they released an album last year...this is a good track! Rei has a Rock voice, she's better cut to front a band like this than be an idol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLqr1Y5QJuE

and Scandal! Damn! Excellent new song "Masterpiece". That heavy groove! The intro is awesome, and it has that classic Scandal touch. How often does a band stick around for over a decade and make their best music this far into their career? Not often. This is really cool!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-qVp94jB1o 

Maison Book Girl are one of the more unique Alt Idol groups that I haven't given a fair chance yet. This new song "Automata" is fricking great. They have a very defined sound and style, and this is another great song in it.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMaRQiYIez0

[Manimal]

Satoko Shibata, Ganbare! Melody 

An artist who just came on my radar last month. Satoko's music is crafty very melodic singer/songwriter styled, not unlike early Seiko but dorky instead of crazy/idol themed and...well actually a lot different. It's a specific brand of J-Pop with great band arrangements that bring life to Satoko's tunes. It's pretty laid back, Satoko is a nice singer and the instrumentals give the album a great feel. "Tears" is a standout with a stupid groovy bassline and head bopping feel. The bass is generally awesome this whole album. There is some nice guitar and horn parts on this album also. It keeps a consistent mood of it's own. It's too busy to be easy going and lazy but Satoko's overall reigned in enough not to make louder songs like "Surprises" crazy. This album is all about starting with an offbeat vocal into a groovy bassline that picks up instrumentation into the chorus. "Wankoro Meter" has a crazy beat. This is a great album! It has a unique tone and does different things throughout the tracklist. Very fun.

   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKwn8VidGqY

Kaqriyo Terror Architect have a new single "The Forbidden Masturbating" with 2 b-sides. Quite the name, and the song's cool to. "Drying Party?" is even better, Idolcore Rap Metal thing. Maybe Alt Idol Dance Metal? It's not too bad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oltZZK4WSXo 

I haven't checked on Rinne Yoshida since 2017. The artist responsible for the greatest Kawaii Rap song of all time...I don't even know the English title, Rinne Hip something or other. She has a new single "#film" with 2 b-sides. It's a pretty good song! It has a great sound with rapped verses, still holding Rinne's style. I really like this song, it's a little more "K-Pop" in production. The other songs are fine to, though anyone could of done "MU", DAOKO, Perfume, it's a pretty non-distinct sound, even though I do like it. "Tea For Two" is pretty boring though. Rinne is best when she raps, otherwise she's like any other artist of the kind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMrkMqfgqFY     

[devola]

Hopefully I'm not intruding with this, but.. thanks for making these posts. I'm in constant need of music to draw along and your threads have been a great source for that. So once again, thanks for taking the time make these write ups and talk about these musicians, I really appreciate it!

[Manimal]

Thanks dude, I like to share! It's not intruding at all, it's nice to know someone is checking out what I ramble on about!

Three albums not worth posting much about.

CHAI : PUNK. Fun high energy album bursting with high vocals, urgent feelings and sugary delivery. The songs are crafty and do some cool things, it has a unique sound. But I don't want to listen to it again or anything, it was good for one listen. The Twilight Sad : IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME. Good I hope it won't because this was so boring I don't even remember listening to it. Heavily accented sort of Post-Punk, if you like boring things like the Cure it might be okay but this album was so unremarkable and plain that it's not even worth a single more word from me. Durand Jones & The Indications : American Love Call. An album amazingly good at taking just about every element from old 70's Soul songs and putting it together to create...nothing exciting. It's not a bad album, it's just really nothing interesting.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoCOh2r6ML0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPMUYLF7S5c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FjpDuL9CWY

The most exciting promo video ever came out. Ayuni D eating spaghett (with ketchup, such a mangiacake thing to do), eating key lime cake, drinking pop like an animal and walking out of a restaurant. It was a thrill. Even more thrilling than watching my favorite Rock 'n Roll idol eat was PEDRO FULL ALBUM THIS SUMMER. Album of the year, called. zoozoosea was SO GOOD and Ayuni finally came out as a real example of the Rock 'n Roll spirit. So we'll see what's next. This is the most exciting possible news for 2019 music for sure. I got my focus on Ayu now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1MQ7-sREwk 

[Manimal]

BiSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On April Fools BiSH announce a soon to drop EP STiCKS, and another, CARROTS, next month, ultimately resulting in their 5th album CARROTS AND STiCKS on July 3rd. All new songs! None of last years singles! So two 4 song EP's and then a combined album with 6 new songs. Wow. 

There is a new music video "STiCKS" which is the edgiest thing BiSH have ever done. Even more so than "DEADMAN". This video is...amazing. Oh my God what's going on, why do they look so good in those military outfits. Atsuko is full Top Gun in the flash back sequence. Momoko missed a recent BiSH concert and now there's a video in which we have a VHS sequence of every member killing her and she gets chaingun revenge in the end? There was also the WACK audition, which is always crazy, where BiS disbanded (again) after releasing that crazy video for "Are You Ready?", but BiSH came ripping out with this. and they have new edgy pantyhose face pictures on Twitter and...they're finally doing something crazy again. I love BiSH.   

I mean to be fair this really isn't a good song, but it kind of is? It's so different from everything BiSH have done, but it still holds that spirit. I think they finally decided to be "Alternative" again. I am anticipating the upcoming album! I hope for more of this stuff and less typical stuff like last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWngRZIfOzE&feature=youtu.be 

   
 

Carly Rae's new album, Dedicated, is out May 17th. I will admit, I'm a bit of a hipster. Since I was onboard Emotion from day 1, before that, day 1 for Run Away With Me, I feel like wow about time people caught on. Only took a year or more before people realized. But as long as people find her music and love it then it's fine. It's oddly nice to have that very small album that you love so much, like top 10 love, and only few others know and love it. But no need to be a dick, it's good people are realizing she is more than one song, she found an audience, and we'll see how the next album goes!

PASSCODE, CLARITY 

The latest from the genre fusing Alt Idols. Clarity delivers the classic and very distinctive PASSCODE sound with a lot of great songs and a bit of variety. They smashed 2018 with the insane single "Taking You Out/Tonight" which where two awesome songs that really shine on here. Besides that there are some good "softer" songs that still have a bit of the screaming but more tactically. I liked "THE DAY WITH NOTHING" the most, it was my favorite along with "Ray", "TRICKSTER" and "WILL". This is a cool album with a lot of songs worth going back to listen to.

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI0_Hx__dFU 

BAND-MAIKO 

Last year BAND-MAID's April Fools was "secret MAIKO lips" where they redid one of there many many masterworks "Secret My Lips" with traditional Japanese additions and a cool music video. This year they took it further with a 7 song mini album! It opens with last year's track, which is great, and goes into a totally revised version of "One And Only" now "TORA and TORA". It's like the Wagakki Band BUT with a kind of bad mix. The traditional instruments clash big time with the band and it ends up sounding like two songs playing at the same time, sometimes not quite in sync with each other. Same with "YOLOSIOSU" where the instruments don't allow the song to breath like before. "ansan" is a bit of an awkward version of "anemone". "Akasimahen" is actually good, it changes up "Awkward" quite a bit and is a total new recording instead of adding on top the original. "Screaming" is also good on here. "Gion Cho" is a new song, and it's pretty good also. As has been a recent trend in BAND-MAID's music Akane and Misa have been doing the heavy lifting, there is less cool guitar stuff going on. It's a neat track. This EP is novel and the song selection is good, but the arrangements at times just don't work. Still a fun endeavor.

   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umSt7oMUMcs

A couple weeks till Haru to Shura goes on record...but only 500 copies. Stupid. I hope I can get a copy, I'm willing to pay a bit for that certainly. As long as it's not stupid like $100+ shipped than I'll get it if I can. I love the album the more I hear it. It's a Western press though from some random, French?, Indie label so I'm unsure how the quality will be. I expect cheap but you never know, sometimes Indie labels care.

[Manimal]

BiSH, STiCKS 

My iron maidens are back again with exciting music. BiSH spent 2018 doing tie-in songs for dramas, games, and anime. It was pretty safe formulaic WACK music, aside from the phenomenal single "stereo future". Ayuni D went off to do an amazing three piece Rock EP and Aina & Chichi had a good double a-side. Now we have STiCKS, as mentioned above the first of 2 EP's before their 5th album CARROTS and STiCKS. This is the dirtiest music BiSH have made, by far. It's lo-fi and nasty at times. "Finally Dead" might as well have no melody and the deliveries are so strange, this song is cool as hell and the more I hear it the more I like it. LingLing's part in the second chorus is great. "PAiN; Friendly Pain", which has a lot of Atsuko, sounds like a garage demo tape from the 90's, even down to the stiff drumming and fuzz wall guitar. "FREEZE DRY THE PASTS" is the same, it even has tape hiss. It does the quiet/loud thing, the chorus is just sudden overdriven noise. It's the best song here. It makes you wonder what the plan with BiSH is, to go from a very commercial 2018 to kick into 2019 like this. I like what's been done here, it's edgy and way different from before. Honestly this isn't going to be something I listen to very often but it's cool.

   

Seiko on the other hand is about to get some more Western fans with her OP for Black Clover. BiSH also did one so whoever's behind this has amazing taste. The song is "JUSTadICE". Just add ice? It's kind of like a Kusokawa Party song and "draw(a)drow" with more anime. It's a good song and if I was watching an anime and suddenly Seiko did the OP, ya I'd be hyped every episode. Her vocal is pretty excellent on this track and the guitars are cool. The bridge is classic Seiko, that's her signature touch! Someone on Twitter said it's a Nu-Metal breakdown, that's correct. This is a catchy song. It's made me forget that disaster remake she did with Sayumi Michishige already.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkNvl3fNf5A 

Restating how awesome Maison Book Girl's new song is. I thought it was called "Automata"? Lol, clearly I was reading something wrong, it's "Kujira Kojo". The "EP" it's on SOUP is cool. But man this song is so fricking good, Maison Book Girl is just such a unique and total gem of a group. This is why I love Alt-Idol, so many unique and interesting artists that make music good on the ears! 

[Manimal]

Seiko's idol group ZOC has their first song "family name".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IytBgF3UhP0

It's kind of a typical idol midtempo Rock tune, but a decent one, familiar melody and feel. It has the all sing together chorus and guitar hook. I like the video, Seiko assembled a group of rejects basically and serves as the manager. I like the idea of ZOC a lot, the song's not bad, just hoped for something a little different I suppose. 

Carly Rae's new song "Julien" on the other hand is really good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRrl0O6CMZM

The other 3 songs have made me go, eh, but this one got me right away. Good groove and feel, instantly catchy and instantly great. The album's finally coming next month, this song has made me feel a little more positive about it overall.

[Manimal]

Carly Rae Jepsen, Dedicated 

4 years after Emotion Carly Rae returns with my most anticipated album of all time. So, what do we have this time? Not quite what I was expecting. This album is slightly weirder than I thought it would be. There is a strong variety in sound and some unique bits that pop up. Carly and team add a lot more while keeping some of that 80's theme. "Want You In My Room" has some jangly arpeggios and robot voice in the chorus, a common theme on the album with all the pitched up vocal effects and such. "I'll Be Your Girl" is a fiery highlight led by a cool bassline, it's great energy! I really like this song. "Automatically In Love" is an excellent song! "Julien" is my favorite song currently, a strong opener. "The Sound" pulls some neat tricks not unlike "Gimme Love". "Feels Right" and "Right Words Wrong Time" kind of pass by, not bad songs but not highlights. "Real Love" is good but the album dials it down by the end, the last bit isn't bad and there are some really cool sounds in "For Sure", but it becomes less interesting overall. "Party For One" saves the day by ending the thing, this song really grew on me! It's quite catchy and those post-chorus keyboards...yes. It's the perfect song to close this album full of the highs and lows of love.

Dedicated retains Carly Rae's spirit and builds on Emotion with some new elements and a sound/vibe of it's own. This album is distinct with it's production and interesting/fun tricks it pulls in the first half. Of course I'm going to listen to this album a lot, and I outta get both the CD and record, on first listen I like it and certainly the album had it's share of surprises. "Julien", "I'll Be Your Girl", "Party For One" and "Automatically In Love" are my favorite songs. I am just thrown a bit by songs 11 to 14 which while not bad blend into each other. On first listen though I am overall happy with the album and feel it did some cool things.

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0w4c0o0rHw