MUSIC REVIEWS #2: Hina Aoki’s “Letters”

Ah. Hina Aoki. I call her Hinapiyo.

For those who have read my past few works here, you know she is someone whose name pops up in. First, it was the AFA 2024 article. Then it was the article where I shared my top 10 songs of 2024. Now, this.

I first got to know her through a friend of mine, and her music is not bad, I have to say. I had also obtained her signature from AFA 2024. Since then, I have been following her activities. Although I couldn’t attend her concerts in Japan, at least I still got to hear her music.

She is better known as Raana Kaname of girl band MyGO!!!!!, whose song has also appeared on my top 10 songs of 2024. In concerts and plays, she amazes people with her singing ability. I mean, just look at some of the videos on YouTube. She sang the Queen of the Night aria. In livestreams, she’s kinda hilarious and quirky. She is really pretty and cute too, and has lots of fans too, including me. So far, everything seems to be going well for her.

When she announced she was going to release her debut album, I was kinda surprised and excited for it. So far, most of her songs that she have released on streaming platforms are pretty good, especially “Colors of You”, which I have rated as my second favorite song of 2024. There are some new songs, and ones that were already released. Still, I was stoked.

The moment her album released on 1 October, I put everything down to listen to it.

As usual, I’m not that good at writing music reviews, so pardon me if my remarks sound very simple. Without further ado, let’s get started!

wantの感情 (Feelings of want): I remember hearing this song when she released it on her Spotify a few months ago. It was constantly played at her events and concerts, but I couldn’t go to them, so I never really heard the song before then. I kinda like this song. Her vocals do carry it a lot, and is the main reason why this song is pretty good to me. The instrumental is also quite the banger. Overall, it’s pretty good. All I know is that this song goes hard in concerts.

マズルフラッシュ! (Muzzle flash!) : The instrumental has an anime opening vibe, and it also sounds like a school’s over J-pop song, something like that. To me, at least. It’s a very fun-sounding song too. The lyrics here is pretty okay, I guess. The chorus sounds like Ayasa Ito sang it, but I guess Hinapiyo could go squeaky too. I have to admit, this song did not click to me at first. It was after a few listens that I think it’s decent. This is a song I would listen to whenever I would listen to the album.

カラフルエモーション (Colorful Emotion): This song, on the other hand, clicked well with me on the first listen, and I still love listening to this. It is another fun song, but I really like Hinapiyo’s vocals here, especially like the contrast. Normal singing tone on the verse, pre-chorus, and chorus, meanwhile her “jump” (I really like the way she says it) sounds cutesy. The instrumental here goes hard. The guitar solo after the bridge, hot damn, was that amazing. The whole song is really good.

メグリメグル (Meguri Meguru): This song is also another banger. The chorus is catchy, and the way she says “meguri meguru” is cute as hell. It reminds me of the Hachimi Hachimi or the Padoru Padoru. The lyrics here are pretty similar to Colors of You. The instrumental is also good here. This is definitely another highlight on the album.

BLUE BUD: This is the very first song of hers I’ve listened to. This is an anime opening, so I’m not gonna make that comment of it sounding like an anime opening. This song’s pretty okay for me, although her vocals here are something I like here. The song overall didn’t stand out too much to me, but it doesn’t have to be a Mozart masterpiece or something. It’s decent, and that’s fine.

独奏Showtime (Solo Showtime): Now, this song is godly. Back when I first heard it in April, I thought it was a really great song. I still think so now. Her vocals are music to my ears (no pun intended), and the rock instrumental compliments her vocals. It is kind of a motivational song, and she shows it by singing really damn good and with emotion. I love this song a lot, and I’m glad she released this on streaming platforms instead of just traditional CDs.

Colors of You: This being my second most favorite song of 2024 says it all. Her angelic vocals, the sentimental and emoi instrumental, the lyrics, chef’s kiss. Basically everything about the song is perfect to me. This is THE song that got me into her music. Without this song, I wouldn’t have known how beautiful her vocals are. A definite 10/10 for me.

旅路 (Journey): Like the second song on the album, this song took a few listens for me to like it. The difference is that I actually like this song a lot more than when I first listened to it. It’s a really good song. Her vocals, man. I know I sound like a broken record here, but Hinapiyo’s vocals are really, really, really out of this world. The chorus, especially. The instrumental is very emoi here too, like an anime’s ending song. This song did grow on me, and I would listen to this sometimes.

ODD: This is the song pushed out when the album was released, and it is the only one with a music video thus far. I can see why though. The instrumental goes real hard. It really sounds like it is made with a lot of professional tools compared to the other songs in the album. As usual, her vocals are remarkable. Overall, great song. Music video’s pretty cool.

あとがき(Afterword): This song is decent, I would say. Her vocals as always are a plus in every song. I like the intro too. The instrumental is kinda good too. It’s a song I would listen to from time to time.

天色 (Heavenly Color): Another song that I think is fine. It works well as an anime opening, well I mean because it is, but as a song itself, I think it’s alright. The instrumental is pretty upbeat, and it’s decent too. I guess if there’s one thing I’m not a fan of, it’s that it ends abruptly, unlike the rest of the songs on the album. I thought it would still play some instrumental to end the song, but no, it ends right after Hinapiyo finishes the chorus. A bit weird, but I guess the rest of it is fine.

Letters: The final song of the album, and the title track at that too. I like the vocals and instrumental here. I notice that most of the songs in this album has a guitar solo, and this one works pretty well. This song sounds similar to the previous one, which kinda got me confused.

Overall comments:

This album showcased a lot of Hinapiyo’s vocal talents. She sings damn good, and it shows in all twelve tracks. Production is mostly consistent among all songs too. I like most of the lyricism here, and song style wise, almost all of them follow the same strategy, but that’s fine by me. That’s how a song works, anyways.

The only problem I do have with this record is that the last few tracks were burning me out. Sure, they aren’t horrible or terrible, but they were a little bland compared to the first half of the album. The last three tracks, specifically, didn’t bring any sort of attention or try to keep me hooked in, and it didn’t help the last two songs sounded really similar.

Nonetheless, Hinapiyo is an amazing singer, and she has proved it through Letters. I am definitely looking forward to more songs from her. This album is not perfect, but it’s still really well done.

Songs I liked: カラフルエモーション, メグリメグル, 独奏Showtime, Colors of You, 旅路 (Journey), ODD

My most disliked song: 天色

My overall rating of the album:

3.88/5