Fair to say we miss Kyary…
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[5.75]
Patrick St. Michel: When it was announced Natsume Mito would become a singer as well as model, I was worried this would end up being too similar to a certain other fashion-oriented person gone pop star, as they also had the same management company and producer. It’s nice, then, that “Maegami Kiri Sugita” establishes a unique image for her and works as a nice bit of fluffy pop too. It has the same playroom vibe as a lot of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s early music, but whereas even Kyary’s early music could be subtly focused, Mito just goofs around. She’s been described as representing producer Yasutaka Nakata’s sound, “but from Kansai,” the region to the west of Tokyo, considered far more laid-back than the stiff, unwelcoming capital. Kyary has always eyed national attention, and her songs often revolve around the fear of growing up, but Mito just lets it lay out, and “Maegami Kiri Sugita” is just about getting a sorta shitty haircut and dealing with it.
[8]
Megan Harrington: I did this right before my college graduation and I wound up having to put about a half cup of L.A. Looks hair gel in my hair to turn my combed back baby bangs to rock cement and then carefully crowning the sculpture with a Blair Waldorf headband. I was not half so pleasant as Natsume Mito that day.
[7]
Iain Mew: I’m not sure this is sonically distinct enough from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu for Natsume Mito’s career. She brings a heavier kind of presence that cuts against the playroom keyboard squelches well, though, and “choki choki” is a better and happier hook than Kyary’s had for a while.
[7]
Alfred Soto: The keyboard solo and “choki choki” hook are stick-like-glue good, but it’s a minute too long. Not much different from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu either.
[5]
Katherine St Asaph: I appear to be trapped inside the Tiny Toons Anvil Chorus, except they’re all pink and pound twice as hard.
[2]
Brad Shoup: This is one of those few times I’ll recommend you listen to something on laptop speakers, so that Mito is trying that much harder to connect to you, and the torturous choki chokis lose focus, becoming more of a rhythm element instead.
[5]
Micha Cavaseno: I don’t know if it’s the fact that I have a fever or if it’s because this is typical of songs affiliated with the Yasutaka Nakata brand of “Breh, this sounds like I’m entering a pharmacy on the Game Boy.” But I am pleasantly bemused while possibly quite deliberately isolated and unsure of myself. Just… where is aisle five, so I can get rid of this cold?
[6]
Cédric Le Merrer: Yasutaka Nakata phoning it in is still enjoyable, but ever less so.
[6]