Portrait by chilldspot (Album Review) ▸ J-Music Exchange/Rate
Ending off yet another great year!
Hello and welcome back to J-Music Exchange/Rate! In case you’re new here: this is a fun little segment that I do alongside my good friend/fellow Japanese music fan Leap250 where we pick out an album from our respective libraries, exchange them with each other and later review on our own blogs. For the past 3+ years, this has been a good way for both of us to suggest music to each other and help expand our knowledge on the Japanese music scene, and we also hope that these reviews do the same for all of you reading!
And as always in the month of December, Leap and I get the chance to look back at all the great releases that came out during the year by giving each other our favorite albums of 2023. Records from the past 12 months that (in our opinion) were some of the best, and I’ll talk about this a bit more in my end-of-the-year roundup but it really does feel like 2023 was one of the more diversified years when it comes to the stuff I listened to. I ended up discovering a lot of new things and styles/genres that I didn’t think I’d get into, and thus there were many potential choices for my personal AOTY. That said, I believe the one I ended up picking is very reflective of that!
So finally, here are our choices for this special occasion: Leap went ahead and tossed over Portrait from the R&B/pop-rock band chilldspot, while I… actually, I’ll keep mine a surprise so definitely go to Leap’s blog to find out!
chilldspot is a Tokyo-based R&B/pop rock band, consisting of Hiyune (Vo/Gt), Ryouzan (Gt), Kozaki (Ba) and Justin (Dr). The idea of chilldspot began to come together in 2019, when Hiyune started writing songs during her initial years in high school (with her first composition being the eventually released “Yoru no Tanken”). The band started to take shape when Hiyune recruited friends/fellow high schoolers to jam and play some of her original works, which then led to the group’s official formation.
In November of 2020, chilldspot released their first EP, the youth night. With tracks like the aforementioned “Yoru no Tanken” and the serene vibes heard in “Neon wo Keshite”, chilldspot was able to put their name on the map and was even featured on Spotify’s ‘RADAR: Early Noise 2021’ playlist as an up-and-coming artist.
Since then, the band has released two full albums, three EPs and seventeen singles. chilldspot has also performed at various live events such as JAPAN’s NEXT in 2021, as well as the SYNCHRONICITY and SUMMER SONIC festivals this past year.
(info sources: chilldspot’s official website, TOKION, Ongaku Natalie)
Tracklist
crush
Heart Jack
Girl in the mirror
BYE BYE
Don’t lose sight
Like?
get high
supermarket
full count
please
Anymore
5/7
Released: 2023.05.03
When you follow enough bands over a period of time, and you start seeing how either some move on to having a decent if not a massively succesful music career after a huge hit or they just gradually fall by the wayside, there comes a time when you become a bit more perceptive to whichever direction they might possibly be headed towards just by listening to what they've been putting out. Of course, stuff like hearing clear improvements compared to how they were previously is always going to factor in to that, but I would like to think that there's also something a bit more intangible to it all as well; that feeling you get when you hear a new song by them and you think to yourself 'they nailed that'. I guess the closest that I could compare it to would be the thing when people say 'they found their groove'. That moment when everything finally feels like they're where they should be. It's these moments are what get me excited about a band the most, because I know that once it all clicks into place for them, that's when the magic happens.
chilldspot found their groove this year in my opinion, following months of solid releases one after the other, encapsulated in the band's second full length album, 'Portrait'. What's fascinating to me is, on a technical level, it wasn't as if the band needed to improve all that much. chilldspot was already groovy from the get. It's just there was something that was a little bit... off-kilter about their sound from when they first started. If I had to say, it was more about arrangement; a guitar riff here instead of there, maybe move the vocals back a little, bring the bass forward; little things like that. But it's these little things that make a world of difference, and is why tracks like "Crush" and "full count" for example just 'nail it' when you hear them. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I can only think of a thousand good things to say about chilldspot's 'Portrait' here. They had a an absolutely stellar 2023 in my eyes, and I look forward to (hopefully) many more years of their music to come.
1 ▸ chilldspot’s elevated sound
Just like last year’s AOTY feature, this happens to not be my first rodeo with chilldspot. Thanks to Leap, I ended up discovering this band through his recommendations, whether it was him featuring them multiple times in his roundup posts or posting a song of theirs on Twitter/X. Big emphasis on the latter since I believe my interest in chilldspot really peaked after Leap tweeted out a song of theirs from the album we’re talking about today (Portrait), it being “crush”. Thought that track was pretty sick, as well as it being something that’s more on the chill side (pun not intended) which I very much enjoyed. Plus, it actually prompted me to check out some of their other stuff such as “Groovynight”, “Kiss me before I rise” and a few other songs from their 2021 album ingredients.
So as you can see, we’re already off to a great start when it comes to chilldspot and my opinion on their music. They’re a really solid band, at least from what I’ve heard from them so far, and I think Leap’s assessment from a year ago where he considered chilldspot as one of his personal favorite discoveries from 2022 was certainly on the money.
And I’m emphasizing my familiarity with this band and their past releases since it honestly does feel like chilldspot experimented a bit when it comes to this new album of theirs. While they’ve been mostly known as a band that’s more on the ‘R&B’ side of things, many of the songs on this album do implement genres, styles and certain musical elements that we haven’t necessarily heard from chilldspot (at least, based on the stuff I’ve personally heard from them). It’s even evident in the very first song on the album’s tracklist, “crush”, as it gives off a reggae-like atmosphere with the slower tempo and that sweet, vibey foundation of the bass and drums. Like I mentioned earlier, this was a song that certainly caught my attention when I first listened to it, and for some of the other tracks on Portrait to also give off a bit of a fresh sound was actually pretty neat.
A few of those tracks being “BYE BYE” with its upbeat pop sound and carefree vibe (which was also a fitting tie-in song for a Honda car commercial); the emphasis on rock within “Don’t lose sight” that also featured a nice ‘back-and-forth’ between the more somber verses and high energy chorus parts (also a random remark but it personally reminded me of a great Jason Mraz song lol); and lastly, “full count” and its funkiness legit made it my favorite track off this album.
And as I was working on this review, I became curious about chilldspot’s approach with this new album of theirs since, I would say, the differences between this and their previously released songs are somewhat noticeable. Similar to what Leap has occasionally talked about on his own blog, I think when you take into consideration that a few of the tracks on Portrait happen to be tie-in songs with other media (i.e. “BYE BYE” being featured in an ad for a car, “get high” as the theme song for a romance/drama film), there may have been a slight need to change their style of music (maybe in a more ‘poppier’ way) in order for it to have a much wider appeal.
2 ▸ going with the flow
And while that may be true in a sense, it seems like what was shown in Portrait was more of a reflection of chilldspot’s growth over the years and their specific philosophy on creating music. chilldspot has said in the past (one instance via an interview with TOKION) that they’ve been rooted in having a more free and open-minded approach when writing songs, with an emphasis on just having fun and making stuff based on whatever the members are into at that moment. And it does feel like the same exact thing was done here but as they mentioned in an interview they did with EYESCREAM, being exposed to more and more music/artists/genres over the years definitely inspired them to branch out, try new things and improve their craft. Them wanting to include other instruments in the mix, perform different styles and write about things that relate to their current experiences in becoming adults… this does feel like an album that shows how much chilldspot has changed throughout the past couple years.
And to be honest, I think they did a great job doing so. I really did enjoy hearing a lot of these songs, especially as someone who has casually listened to chilldspot’s music over the past few months. For instance, their take on a more traditional rock sound was fun to experience; and considering that chilldspot has already shown how well they utilize the guitar in their music, it’s almost like that strength was elevated a bit further with the use of guitar layering in tracks like “Girl in the mirror”.
3 ► hiyune’s vocal range and thoughtful lyricism
Even regarding the vocals and lyricism throughout this album, there were a lot of new, fresh ideas that were executed. I mean, hearing Hiyune sing in a higher pitch within “get high” and “full count” was pretty cool, and apparently “supermarket” included rap-esque verses which… I wouldn’t have expected from a band like this but it ended up being decent and clever at times (the Majin Buu name drop was kinda crazy).
But I do think that lyricism needs to be highlighted here, since frontwoman Hiyune seemed to really hone in on the ‘growing up/maturing’ aspect of this album. In that EYESCREAM interview, she mentioned that “Girl in the mirror” is about the struggles of comparing yourself to others and the importance of just letting all that go and gaining confidence by ‘breaking your mirror’. But my favorite song, lyric-wise, might have to be “5/7”. Not only do I believe that this was a really great way to end off the album (I’ve always thought that they do slower/somber tracks REALLY well) but reading the backstory behind this song was pretty phenomenal, as we get to see Hiyune’s own viewpoint on life and growing a year older. While I don’t go too deep into lyrics whenever I do these album reviews, it was actually easy to appreciate chilldspot’s lyrical efforts here, especially being someone who has had their own anxieties/worries about adulthood.
I initially didn’t mean to lean so much into the overarching theme of ‘growth’ when writing this review, but I do feel like it’s that important of a concept when it comes to this album. It’s shown off in so many ways, whether it’s chilldspot’s willingness to try out new styles of music or the band’s personal perspective on growing up in this world; all of which were expressed pretty nicely, in my opinion. You’re able to see chilldspot start to evolve/mature as a band and as human beings, and while change may be scary for some (possibly in this context: chilldspot’s long-time fans), I do feel like this was a pleasant showing of their on-going improvement with making music.
And as much as I’ve been going on and on about this, I have to bring up the fact that despite the various changes that were shown on this album, this is still a chilldspot album through and through. They still maintain that cool factor through their guitar riffs or Hiyune’s deeper vocal registers, and it’s very on par with what the group has released so far. So while I definitely think Portrait is an album that long-time fans will thoroughly appreciate and enjoy, it’s absolutely one that new listeners can easily get into and get a great glimpse of what chilldspot’s music is like.
Rating: 9/10
Aaaaand that’s all I got for you today!!
First and foremost, I wanted to apologize if this review felt a bit ‘ehhh’. I’ve been sick for the past week and it kinda drained all my energy, but I feel like I did the best that I could to showcase this great album. chilldspot is a fantastic band, at least in my opinion, and to see them take their music to new heights has been super fulfilling. Definitely have to thank Leap for introducing me to them earlier this year; I’m looking forward to whatever they release next!
And as always, head on over to Leap’s blog to see what he thought about my personal album of the year! Again, I’ll keep it a surprise but do know that I truly did enjoy this particular record a lot and I think it’s worth checking out. :)
Lastly, I would just like to give my thanks to all of you for reading the Exchange/Rate reviews throughout this year. There were a TON of fantastic albums that Leap gave to me in 2023 and I hope that I did all of them justice with my write-ups. Doing this segment has definitely become one of the biggest highlights of my blogging journey so far; I really do enjoy talking about music and I’m glad to able to share my perspectives on certain albums with you all (even if they’re kinda meh lol). I’m excited to see what’s in store for the segment in 2024 so definitely stay tuned!
So yeah! Last thing I’d like to say is happy holidays to everyone, and it’s still the 24th when this post is being published so for those who celebrate, I hope you all have/had a wonderful Christmas this year!
Thanks for reading!! :D
-al