Review: DuelJewel- Polaris

Tracklist:

1. Polaris

2. 62

3. Sin

Polaris- I adore this song, however, it is a little on the simple side, there isn't a lot instrumental flare. 

Meaning, if you notice there are no guitar solos, or a lot of focusing on the other "regular" instruments, but,while still very good, the song maintains a rather basic line of music. Which I'm fine with. I think the other aspects of the song more than make up for that, as the main focus of the song seems to mostly be the voacls themselves.And I actually quite like the guitar line, infact there is one specific area from 2:05 to 2:13, that really highlights the bass, and to a lesser extent the guitar as well, besides the piano this is, for me, the most ear-catching instrumentally. The added piano element is definitely a plus. Somewhere along the way I read a fan quote stating how much alike Hayato and Gackt's voices are. And while I don't completely agree with this, admittedly I do hear some small similarities, mostly with held out notes at the end of phrases or verses. If you would like a very clear example, check out 59 seconds in.

62- This is my personal favorite off the single, I even like it more than Polaris. There is an obviously big difference in the mood of the two songs, and as I haven't listened to a lot of DuelJewel previously I was a bit thrown off by the weird autotuned vocals at the beginning (I'm not sure if they've something like this before?). And truthfully, I had it in my head for a minute that I absolutely was not going to like this song, but ummmm.... the rest of this song kicks ass! Hayato's vocals are fantastic, and I am particularly delighted with the background singing and yelling. The music is fast paced and energetic, while the chorus is ever so catchy. I also like that that instruments are emphasized more in 62, ex: the guitar solo from 2:18 to 2:31. As well as several other spots which really bring out the guitar and drums, ex: 1:20 to 1:22, as a matter of fact I could time at least five other areas of this song where the drums are extremely well done (off the the top of my head, 3:48 to 3:57). I would say the drums are definitely a major highlight.

Sin- I don't have any considerably special feelings toward this song, I'm not really for or against it, but I will say I like it the least of the three. It is the shortest song off the single, so of course there is even less time for

me to get acquainted with it. The music itself is pretty good, and I notice again we're hearing

 a completely different sound and vibe from this song then the previous two. I don't dislike this song, I do wish the chorus were a bit better, but I am fond of the majority of the verses and music line. Most specifically the slowed arrangement at about 2:14 and also the spoken vocals from 1:27 to 1:40. And the addition of the heavy metal speed guitar and drums is quite effectively used here.

My Grade: 4/5

This is the first time I've ever seriously checked out DuelJewel. I've spot listened to them on occasion but never really came across anything I absolutely couldn't live without. I do think their last single Vamp Ash was pretty decent, but again nothing I was particularly over the moon about. That being said I do find this release quite enjoyable. It's an exceptionally well-rounded single, every song is joined with a similar sound and yet all have distinct qualities to them.

I came across this while reading up on the band, and I think it fits very well with what I just said:

"A focal point to DuelJewel’s music is its diversity, from their heart wrenching ballads to their hard rock tunes, every member contributes to the band’s overall sound to create at least one song that everyone should love." -Last.fm

I think that's a fantastic focal point, a great quality for a band to have, and whoever wrote this, kudos.