Album Review: JYOCHO - Let's Promise to Be Happy

JYOCHO is a Japanese Math-Rock band, known for their experimental and artistic works. This month, they released Let's Promise To Be Happy, an 6-track (counting intros and outros, 8) album. As the title suggests, the album is about the theme of happiness and the lengths and methods of those who seek it. The end result is a beautiful piece of art that could age as one of the best albums of the decade.

New Reminiscences

A good album sets up its world and storyline in the intro track. New Reminiscences is a perfect introduction. Over its short thirty-second runtime, it perfectly sets up the world of the album. Daijiro's guitar chords are simple, melodic, natural, and flow like the falling petals of spring. Curiously enough, the track finishes on a note other than its central keynote, leading to an empty feeling, leaving you seeking more, and curious to how this journey will end.

All the Same

The album's first single, and a theme for the anime Banished from the Hero's Party, All the Same flows naturally from the intro, with Daijiro's guitar continuing. Except this time, Nekato's vocals and Hachi's flute lead into the introduction. Lyrically about someone rising, remembering, and hoping, it is understandable that All the Same is so nostalgic. As usual, Daijiro's guitar skills are central to the song, with his acoustic breakdown central to the song's story. Hachi's flute proves a key assist, leading to a dreamy, hopeful feel. Nekato's voice does sound a little stretched, but she accomplishes what she can while letting the instrumental take the lead. The song's extended outro is pure bliss. While technically released in late 2021, I'd say All the Same is one of the best songs of 2022 and will certainly be considered for the year-end countdowns.

Rating: 9/10

Gather the Lights

Gather the Lights feels more like a breather, letting us Hachi's skills with the flute with a slow, dreamy melody. The extended instrumental break in the center of the song seems to be a JYOCHO tradition, and Gather the Lights is strong, if not particularly remarkable in the larger scale of the album

Rating: 8.25/10

Stay in the Circle

It is in this track that JYOCHO shows their experimental streak. The intro to this song plays fast and loose with tempo. It has a summer-y tinge as if it is the season of All the Same has passed. Netako's piano adds a nice level of springiness to the arrangement. The sung hook is perhaps the greatest in the album, instantly memorable, flowing with a nostalgic, mid-tempo energy. This is greatly assisted by Hachi's flute, which increases the power of the arrangement. Stay in the Circle might be short, but it accomplishes quite a lot within its short runtime.

Rating: 9/10

Turn into the Blue

The opening chords of Turn into the Blue seem like they directly flow from Stay in the Circle, but the song soon differentiates itself. As always, the instrumental is gorgeous, but here, perhaps more than ever before. The instrumentation tugs and pulls, with a unique and strange instrumental segment, opening and closing doors of silence and brief snippets of notes, building upon each other. This is particularly heavenly with headphones, amplifying each and every note. Netako's voice and Hatch's drums come to calm the experiment, before they both whisper the track in silence, leading to a cinematic piano segment. The elements proceed to build upon each other for the following segment in perfect cohesion. Hachi's flute comes into assist, improving the track further. Perhaps some additional guitar from Daijiro, assisted by string samples would improve the song further, but Turn into the Blue is instantly memorable.

Rating: 8.75/10

The End of Sorrow

So far in this album, we have seen the seasons fly by and dreams come and go, the second single feels like a conclusion of the story up to this point. Dramatically titled The End of Sorrow, the song lives up to its name. The song opens with nostalgic chords, before instantly being assisted by upbeat drums, flutes, piano, and Nekato's voice. The time signature of 9/8 is certainly strange, but The End of Sorrow is willing to experiment while telling a fantastic story. The tempo change midway through the song is supported by some fantastic solos, from Sindee's bass to Hachi's flute. This all leads to a breakaway chorus, heartening to each of the refrains and instrumentals from the song, climaxing in a dramatic build. Hatch gets her moment to shine, as her high-pitched voice perfectly fits into the dreamy chaos in the middle of the song. The end of the song, where each of the elements fade away, leaving the slow guitar by Daijiro alone, is fantastic. This is experimentation with strong storytelling, not just for the sake of trying something new.

Rating: 9/10

Measure the Dawn

Measure the Dawn's first few seconds fool you, leaving the impression that this is a soft ballad. Suddenly, the song turns into a heavy rock anthem before Nekato's voice tells of a calming turn. The song seamlessly switches between heavy rock and melodic balladry with sufficient panache within each variation. Hachi and Daijiro once again steal the show, with Daijiro's guitar breakdown mid-track standing out as one of the album's best moments. The song, as with the rest of the album, has diverse production supporting the diverse turns of the piece. The extended choir outro is additionally golden, another peak for the album.

Rating: 9/10

Never Forget

From New Reminiscences, we move to Never Forget. Once again, the album's architect, Daijiro Nakagawa, the composer, lyricist, and guitarist for each of these tracks, closes the entire album out the way he started it, with him and his acoustic guitar. However, this time, the album concludes on a more complete note, slowing down. We no longer are looking inquisitively at the future, we are remembering the past.

Overall Rating: 8.8/10

Admittedly, I took a bit of a risk with the rating, upping the scores for many tracks to what I anticipate them to grow into. Make no mistake though, this is a defining album. It blends experimentation and unique Math Rock structures with heavenly instrumentation, clever storytelling, and wonderful performances. It might be too early to call it definitive, but I expect Let's Promise to Be Happy as a true contender for album-of-the-year.

Image Source: Realsound