Review: Yurina Hirate (Techi) - Reason for Dance
Early this year, Keyakizaka 46 had a decent sized line-up change before their re-debut as Sakurazaka 46. Techi, also known as Yurina Hirate, the center, was one of the members who left. Now I did not follow Keyakizaka 46, so I never really knew of Hirate. But boy, if she keeps up with this sort of material, then she will win my 2021 debut countdown!
Anyway, 'Reason for Dance' is a showstopper. Before I talk about the song, I just want to say that the MV and choreography is genius. It does not have a really high budget but is one of the most aesthetic visual forms of art this year.
While many watch J-Pop without caring for the lyrics, 'Reason for Dance' is much better if you know the lyrics. It almost feels autobiographical, and talks about dance as a form of freedom from the world, and also works as a rise of the oppressed track. Now, this is not entirely original, other people have done this before. But the interesting thing is how Hirate blends her lyrics into her vocal-delivery. This explains why the vocals are so subtle through the track and are so dulled that you cannot tell who (or what) is delivering the singing. Still, it breaks into painful and afraid sections at times, while at others coming off as strong and aggressive. In this way, Hirate reminds me of G-Dragon, not the greatest vocalist in terms of talent, but able to emote anything through vocal delivery. In fact, I kinda want to go check out the whole Keyakizaka 46 discography to see if she gets more chances to show vocal skills like this.
The instrumental is ambitious. Normally, funk and brass are not things I look forward to in tracks. But over here, there are used in an ambitious, marching band situation, ready for battle. In a way, the instrumentation is what BTS's 'ON' wanted to be. Really, it gives me the chills.
My favorite moment from the track comes from the messy word repeat in the pre-chorus, it is raw emotion and nothing else.
A little over midway into the track, we get thrown into a weird dance break which should cut the flow of the track. But the track uses this dance break to build into an emotional, brass-based bombast. In a way, it is the rising of a phoenix moment. The dance break does not appear in the performance version, but I am basically counting it as it makes the song even better.
This leads to the climax, which feels self-assured, as if Hirate no longer seeks approval, but is ready to help others who were she was. I love it when a song tells a story, and 'Reason for Dance' tells a great story. The song climaxes with a genius key-change, easily one of the top musical moments this year, and a moment which I think I will remember for a while
When IAFTB wrote a review for Taemin's 'Criminal' for Asian Junkie, the reviewer wrote "You know a release is good when you’re not internally debating whether you like the release or not, but rather you’re wondering where this might rank in the year’s best releases and how might this hold up in a year or five.". I would use the same statement for 'Reason for Dance', a show-stopping debut for sure.
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