Song Review: NiziU – AlwayS

We’ve entered December, which all but ensures a steady stream of ballads from both K-pop and J-pop. This softer energy tends to be quite seasonal, as listeners seek coziness over musical bombast. Japan has an especially insatiable appetite for ballads, making NiziU’s AlwayS the perfect release for this time of year.

AlwayS starts life as a straightforward piano ballad before transforming midway through. OST-style production is briefly replaced by skittering percussion, echoing the drum and bass sounds found in many recent releases. Then, the song’s balladness (is that a word?) comes back full force with a flourish of electric guitar. To my ears, this last portion of the song is most successful. But then again, I happen to enjoy a dramatic arrangement.

As exciting as these instrumental shifts are, AlwayS never finds melodies as captivating. Great ballads are all about melody, and on first listen I walked away from AlwayS with little recall of how the song actually went. Too often, it seems that the melodies are simply tracing similar lines to other existing ballads. But without a unique calling card of its own, AlwayS passes by without much effect.

Grade: C