Tracks:

1. Hoshi

2. Kaleidoscope

3. Koibumi -Album Ver.-

4. Saiai no Hito

5. in the rain

6. SUN SUN EYES

7. Anata Shika Inai

wyolica’s Balcony was released on February 4th, 2009. It’s their 1st mini-album and it charted at #85 on the Oricon Weekly Charts.

Serving as the mini-album’s main promotional track as well as the opener, is Hoshi. This track is pretty simple in terms of arrangment. It features some soothing acoustic guitar and it also throws in some light beats to keep it from being too boring. For me, this track was at first, a slow-burner. But it’s grown on me and I really like it now.

Things pick up a bit with Kaleidoscope. I REALLY liked the gritty, yet repetitive, acoustic guitar that is present throughout the entire song. There’s also a beat in this track, but since it’s more upbeat, you can expect it to be a lot louder and faster to match the song. azumi really steps out of the dark and into the light in terms of vocals. She definitely projects her voice a lot more, in the more upbeat tracks.

Our next track is the Album Ver. of Koibumi. Though it’s a new version of this song, it’s never been on any of wyolica’s previous releases. Anyways, this brings us to our first ballad on the album. Koibumi is also pretty simple. To be honest, this song kind of makes me sad. It’s really kind of melancholy really, and at first it wasn’t as sad, but once the strings came in, I just wanted to bawl everywhere. Really pretty track.

Another sad and somber track, and more a of a blues ballad, is Saiai no Hito. At first I was a little bored with the (somewhat) lame guitar chords, but the chorus made me wake up. azumi’s vocals elevate, a steady drum beat is added, and some strings to lighten to mood. The rest of the track is a lot better and definitely kept me interested.

in the rain is by far my favourite track on the album. I really like the R&B sound this song had. Not only does it have some acoustic guitar (in an R&B song, wut?) it has a really catchy chorus for an R&B song. azumi’s voice sounds a lot better with slower tracks, and this song proves it.

…The first thing I thought of when I heard SUN SUN EYES was: “GROOVY DUDE!” (LOLOL.) But in seriousness, this song has a really nice groovy sound. I like the upbeatness to azumi’s vocals, and it’s nice to hear her sing in a more playful manner.

To be honest, I don’t really like Anata Shika Inai. (SORRY, LEX) I mean, it’s a nice song, but I get kind of bored, and the whole song is pretty monotone. And clocking in at 6 minutes 20 seconds long, I lose interest pretty fast. I’d probably like this slow-burner of a ballad if it was minute or two shorter. I will admit, however, azumi sounds really nice during the chorus.

I’m gonna be completely honest. This album would probably get a higher grade if I wasn’t so new to wyolica. I mean, they’re good, but azumi’s voice is kind of different (for me, anyways.) But, overall, the duo has a really nice sound and I think they’re heading in the right direction with this mini-album. Hopefully, their new single will be even better.

Overall Grade: