Review: YOASOBI - Love Letter

Recently, Tokyo FM launched a project to turn a letter by a fan into a song. The concept was certainly novel, and in the end, a letter by a 6th-grade student named Hatsune won out. The letter is all about thanking and enjoying music, and YOASOBI were chosen to turn it into a song. Congratgulations Hatsune!

It certainly worked well enough. It seems Ayase and Ikura decided to have a little bit of fun with this track. For one thing, they are working with a full orchestra and a high school choir, creating a dramatic atmosphere. However, instead of going for their usual light-dark contrast, Love Letter is much more lighthearted, and expectedly so.

The best feature of the track is the choir that appears in the verses. It only appears briefly, but each appearance is an absolute joy. The orchestral arrangement, while not living up to previous J-Pop examples, such as Arashi's Kite, functions well enough. Everything from drums to brass dot the soundscape, creating an atmosphere worth enjoying.

Unfortunately, this style does not fill Ikura as well as, say, Kaibitsu. Nonetheless, she provides a strong performance, playing with the track, not powering it or following it. It works just well enough to keep the song from collapsing, even if it does not do much to support the song.

The melody lies as mixed. In moments such as the chorus, it is excellent, but occasionally it appears a little too drawn out. The melody's peak is after the key change, when the song leads into its excellent finale.

Overall, Love Letter is one of the more average tracks by YOASOBI, and that is okay. It is not attempting to be world-conquering, but it does not do much wrong. In the end, it is all about that instrumental, and that is fine.

Rating: 7.5/10

Image Source: Aniradio Plus