At the end of the Summer, fans were left in shock with the news of the departure of Yusuke. After having been diagnosed with the incurable disease dystonia in his upper right arm, the former drummer had to make the tough decision of having to quit his career as a musician. With the announcement, however, the fans got to hear more bad news. With the departure of Yusuke, the band had to go on hiatus, which many fans thought would be the end of DADAROMA.
Luckily the worries were in vain. Not long after their hiatus on 28 August, they proudly announced they had found a new drummer and that a new mini album was already on its way. As of 16 October Ryohei, formerly known as Len from The Black Swan, officially joined the band. Not even a month later, dadaism#4 was released.
But with a new formation, does that also mean a new DADAROMA?
Right off the bat, the album starts off with an eerie vibe in a way only DADAROMA could do. They set an ambience that catches your breath to introduce you to the entire vibe of the track, luring you into what sounds like a nightmare with a bittersweet touch to it. 蛍 (Hotaru) reminds me of a sweet lie. After the dark intro, it gives you what seems like a rather pleasant setting, but there is nothing I can feel I can trust. The instrumentals give off the feel of a sinister nightmare full of despair, yet Yoshiatsu’s vocals seem to tell a different, more loving story. The contrast is enough to send chills down your spine and as the last note ends, you’ll feel yourself holding your breath. This chilling song is a masterpiece only they could pull off in such a manner.
And the haunting feeling doesn’t stop there. As soon as 部屋とブラジャーと私 (Heyato Brassiere to Watashi) starts playing it feel as if we have set foot in a haunted circus. The track feels like it belongs in a series with Risely Circus, yet the vibe is much darker than that. The melody of this one is really catchy and upbeat. After each refrain though there is a small motif that leaves me feeling chased. It’s as if the song depicts you being stuck in a place you shouldn’t be and need to get out of as soon as possible. Overall the track is a real treat to my ears and definitely something that could be called typical DADAROMA.
When the next track starts, 「トゥルリラ」(Tururira), it’s clear that nothing on this mini album is light or sweet. It leaves the previous track seems nice in comparison. The feeling of despair is a continuing theme throughout the song with low notes and dark chants on the background, combined with Yoshiatsu’s cries. In its entirety, it gives the impression this song is meant to leave a sense of fear in the listener. The song depicts the image of a person that is at wits end here and the unpleasant and desperate feeling is flowing over as Yoshiatsu sings on. This song doesn’t seem to have a happy ending in any way.
カリスマロックスターは売れないぜ！ (Charismarockstar Ha Urenaize) pulls up the beat again with a faster tempo. From the first notes, the track shows less heaviness than the previous tracks brought along with them. Listening to the horrible singing of Yoshiatsu in this one feels almost mocking, and his angry screaming feels intimidating at the very least. There seems to be coming energy from it though, the beat making you all riled up inside. Personally, however, I can say this isn’t my favourite of the album.
A change of pace when キスをしよう (Kiss Wo Shiyou) starts. The song starts up slowly with the instrumentals being backed op with a piano in the background. Yoshiatsu sings softly and tenderly, giving the track a rather sweet and endearing touch to it. After all the dark and heavy stuff this was a feeling longed for in order to calm down and they managed to deliver splendidly. It’s a nice breather and lets your heart flutter slightly.
A PLAIN comes up next, and although the expectations would suggest a heavier song after the small rest we got from the previous track, this one seems rather simple. A PLAIN starts off slowly until the instrumentals kick in. As soon they do though the track seems to be of the same pace throughout the song. It’s nice to listen to and easy to follow with little changes, and even so, it doesn’t feel too bland either. Would I say it fits the album? Maybe not, but it doesn’t feel out of place either.
Finally, the last track comes up as eerie as the first track of the album. As the name suggests, 狼少年と毒林檎～ Piano ver.～ (Ookamishonen to Dokuringo – Piano Ver.) is completely accompanied by a piano. The first note was already enough to create goosebumps, but they got even worse when Yoshiatsu starts his first words. It feels so unreal, so full of anguish it was hard to get through the first part. You get taken in so quickly that it becomes easy to forget to breathe as you’re desperately trying to find out where this sorrow would take you. Up until halfway through where the entire tone transforms into something so beautiful and charmingly captivating. The piano sounds so much more hopeful and even Yoshiatsu sounds sweet. It is enough to spread a warm feeling all over from your cheeks to your heart. This was a track originally from Dadaism#3 but it certainly didn’t suffer from getting a piano re-recording. On the contrary, I believe this track just got even better and more emotional by doing so. This could easily by my favourite song thus far.
This album certainly was an experience from start to finish with a lot of contrasting tracks, but after listening to it through a couple of times I have come to my definite conclusion. Each track brings me back to a different era of DADAROMA, with the first one giving me vibes of Oboreru Sakana and the second one brings me back to Risely Circus. I could go on with each track of course, but faster would be revealing the answer to my question: “With a new formation, does that also mean a new DADAROMA?” Definitely not. They still sound like an evolving version of their very first self and haven’t lost their view even in the slightest. I hope with this new start we can expect a lot more of this from this in the future, and I look forward to any new single they bring forward from this point on.
Rating: 95/100
Tracklist:
01. 蛍 (Hotaru)
02. 部屋とブラジャーと私 (Heyato Brassiere to Watashi)
03. トゥルリラ」(Tururira)
04. カリスマロックスターは売れないぜ！ (Charismarockstar Ha Urenaize)
05. キスをしよう (Kiss Wo Shiyou)
06. A PLAIN
07. 狼少年と毒林檎～ Piano ver.～ (Ookamishonen to Dokuringo – Piano Ver.) (only on Type B)
