2nd EP 'Awaiting Bear' (June 28th 2023)

[fisky86]

Announced today during the Spring Stardust Special Live.

More information to come.

[Mattthecat]

Four songs and of course sound produced by Kenta Matsukuma and SCRAMBLES.
Wow. That should really be good.

For those who don't know Matsukuma is the musical mastermind behind WACK who wrote basically all BiS and BiSH songs

[fisky86]

I didn't know who Matsukuma was, but that sounds awesome! Also, they confirmed that all 4 songs will be produced by him, which means that it will be 4 completely new songs as NEO Shuto iten keikaku was produced by SEAMO.

The CD version will cost ¥3,000 and it will include the 4 songs, plus instrumental versions of each song (8 tracks in total) and a 12-page booklet. And is apparently a limited release? (Or maybe just the pre-order is a limited release?)

The M-Card version (it's a physical card that allows you to access and download a digital version of the EP) will cost ¥1,500, will include 4 songs, and it will come in 10 random varieties.

[fisky86]

One of the new songs from the upcoming EP was performed for the first time today. It's called "Kimi ni pittarina uta"

[fisky86]

It looks like TEAM SHACHI might be shooting their new MV today. They've made Instagram posts that they've been shooting since the morning (without specifying what) and it looks like they're wearing the new EP's outfits.

If that's the first MV they're shooting for this EP, I'd guess that we probably won't see it until June.

[fisky86]

Yuzuki confirmed on Yuzuki no heya today that TEAM SHACHI shot a new MV last week.

[fisky86]

The MV for "Anata no toriko kyuukyoku no ai" (あなたのトリコ～究極の愛～) will premiere on YouTube on Saturday June 3rd at 21JST.

They released a teaser for it:

[fisky86]

The full tracklist has also been released:

M1. Anata no toriko kyuukyoku no ai (あなたのトリコ〜究極の愛〜)
M2. Kimi ni pittarina uta (君にぴったりな歌)
M3. Asagao (アサガオ)
M4. Kunshou (勲章)

As well as the cover art:

[fisky86]

The teaser for the MV gives me "Ai no Chikyusai" vibes, visually speaking.

[fisky86]

The official YouTube channel has dropped another teaser for Anata no toriko 〜kyukyoku no ai〜:



And also a link to the premier of the MV tomorrow:

[fisky86]

Popo released more information about the upcoming EP in an email to the fan club. They've been working on this EP with Matsukuma Kenta since the Summer of last year and the four songs chosen are the result of many meetings.

It seems like Asagao will be similar UCMSVPB, Dakishimete Anthem, and other TEAM SHACHI rock songs, while Kunshou will be an emotional song.

Here's the full text:

まずは6月28日（水）にワクワクレコーズからリリースする新作EP「AWAiTiNG BEAR」。
BiSHさんなどでもおなじみ、松隈ケンタさんサウンドプロデュースで4曲を作っていただきました。
今作、実はワクワクレコーズの立ち上げタイミングの昨夏から松隈さんと進めていました。
本当にたくさんの楽曲demoでの打ち合わせを重ねて最終的に形になった、最高の4曲です。
発売をお楽しみに！
「君にぴったりな歌」はCBCラジオ「推シマシ」で来週ラジオ初O.A.ですね！

_________________________________________

「あなたのトリコ〜究極の愛〜」
柚姫の部屋フェスで初披露、MVも公開されましたこの曲は、踊るラブソング。
圧倒的にキャッチーな音楽と遊び心溢れる歌詞、そしてメンバーのボーカルも素直なニュアンスが沢山詰まった、まさしくお弁当のような楽曲です。
プリプリな歌詞とプリプリなベースの音も心地いい、ライブ要素もたっぷりでこれから育っていくのが楽しみな一曲になっています。



「君にぴったりな歌」
5月から始まったフリーライブツアーで初披露し、最近のライブを見てくださっている方にはおなじみになりつつあるナンバー。
松隈さんらしいエモーショナルなサウンドの中でひとりひとりの声がリレーしていく、素敵な歌です。
一緒に未来をつかもう、とメンバーもライブで伝えているサビの振付もぜひ一緒にやってもらえたら嬉しいです。



「アサガオ」
この曲は最後の1曲をどれにしようかとデモ音源を聴きながらなっていた中で「この曲！進めよう！」とみんなで決めた楽曲。
シャチは楽曲作りの際にライブを意識したものが多いんですが、今回のオーダーはまさにライブのどんな場面でも使いやすい、そんな楽曲。
イントロからテンション上がりますよー！
そして振付にも要注目ですっ
初披露がいまから楽しみ！



「勲章」
たまらないほどに感情がむき出しになる、そんな曲です。
今回のEPを通して感じていただけると思いますが、
メンバーのボーカルのニュアンスの幅がすごいんです。
「きゅきゅっきゅ！」とこの「勲章」の差はびっくりです笑
メンバーのボーカルに引っ張られて本当に心が走り出すような感じがします。
ストリングスもエモーショナルに導いてくれていて、、、
勲章っていい言葉だなと今回最終的に仕上がった歌詞を読んで思いました。
辛い時にそっと前を向かせてくれる気がする、シャチが歌うからこそ説得力がある力強い曲になったと思います。

[fisky86]

The official MV for Kunshou will premiere on June 28th at 20JST.

[fisky86]

AWAiTiNG BEAR debuts at 4th place on the Oricon Daily Album chart with less than 1,200 copies sold in the first day of release...

[fisky86]

Okay, I did some research on how Oricon calculates copies sold and this might not be as bad as I thought. Here's a summary of what I found:

1. The album chart only counts physical copies sold. M cards are NOT counted as physical copies. This is because they're basically a photo card with a link to your digital copy of the album. Given that the CD version of AWAiTiNG BEAR costs twice what the M card costs, it's understandable that a lot of fans might opt for the M card instead.

2. Copies sold as part of meet-and-greet events count as 30%, i.e. if you went to one of the events in May or June and bought a CD reservation as part of a meet with one of the members, that copy counts as 0.3 copies.

3. Some shops only report their sales to Oricon on a weekly basis. Now, why is this important? Basically, back in November, the first EP didn't even chart on the top 30 of the daily album chart, but still reported 7,000+ copies on the weekly chart. AWAiTiNG BEAR is only being sold in the same 19 Tower Records shops that the first EP sold in. And, just like the first EP, you can't order it online. It's not even available on TEAM SHACHI's website yet.

So, probably best to wait and see how the weekly chart goes next week.