So, I’m going to rank every song on the album from worst to best.
10. Yua/Your: I’m impressed! there is actually a song on here that’s worse than Kirai! Anyways, her vocals are awful, the melody is annoying, and the frequent repetition of ‘modorenai’ gets really aggravating. Not a single thing here I like.
9: Kirai: Yeah, this one still sucks. It starts out solid enough, and then it starts ripping off Hikaru Utada’s “Anata” and the song completely loses me. The vocals are horrifically strained, and even the good segments can’t make up for that.
8: Close To You: This song bores me to tears. The lyrics are also a bit too openly sappy for my taste; same issue I had with “Revolution”.
7: Fly, Black Swan: I like the bridge well enough, and Keiko’s deep vocals are always where she’s at her best, but the rest of the track feels horribly disjointed. This one’s written by the same person who did “Nobody Knows You”, which explains the utilization of low notes, but something here just doesn’t click with me.
6: Alcohol: Yeah, I’m surprised, too. I still hate the synth beats with a passion, but the main melody is pretty fun and I enjoy it well enough. I wish the repetitive beat would go away, but the overall result is decent.
5: Watashi Update: Same composer as ”End Roll”, and, just like that song, the instrumentation here is killer. Otherwise, the melody’s a bit forgettable, but that arrangement is such a jam! A solid way to open up the album.
4: Yura Yura: The strings are nice and refreshing. The whole song is a tad . . . Weird, but there’s a nice charm to it, too. It’s very bossa-esque. My favorite of the new tracks.
3: Amanojaku: This song is so much fun! There’s a bit of strain present in the chorus, which is unfortunate, but Keiko’s vocal stamina is at full force here! It’s a very memorable tune that I’m always happy to hear.
2: Hitori Ja Nai Kara: Going against the popular consensus here to say that this song is beautiful. It came out during a part of my life where I really needed it, and there’s something so satisfying about hearing it close out the album. A beautiful ballad.
1: Yoru no Uso to: The best song on the album, and it’s not even close. A gorgeous ballad that suits Keiko perfectly. I’ve listened to it a lot since September, and it hits just as hard with every listen. Wouldn’t be out of place on Dew, honestly, and I love that about it. One of Keiko’s strongest songs.
Yeah, I can’t deny that I’m a bit disappointed. This feels like such a downgrade from her last two albums. Yeah, there’s four songs that I like/love, but I can’t help wishing for a bit more from Keiko. She’s said that this album was her attempt to make songs that remind her of “real life”, but the end result feels very artificial. Like, “Latte” may have had some electronic elements, but that song still feels so much more real than most of the stuff on “Cutlery”. Not to mention works like “Tameiki no Kieru Machi” and “Hachigatsu no Sora”. It’s a tad unfortunate, but I’ll still be rushing back to anything new she puts out. She’s made enough good stuff that it would be pretty hard for me to stop, haha.
