Nogizaka46 -- Route 246

 

I’ve not been keeping up with Japanese pop music from nowadays, so I’m only introduced to new music basically when I watch the mid-year and year-end TV shows. Thats right, I’m talking about Ongaku no Hi (音楽の日), FNS Uta no Natsu Matsuri (FNSうたの夏まつり), FNS Kayousai (FNS歌謡祭), Music Station Super Live (ミュージックステーションスーパーライブ), Kouhaku Uta Gassen (紅白歌合戦) and some others as well.

Since at least July, Nogizaka46 (乃木坂46) have been performing “Route 246” on these shows, but I had to listen to it only once to like what I was hearing. Of course I was already curious about the song even before listening to it, because I was aware of the composer behind it, who was none other than Tetsuya Komuro (小室哲哉).

Komuro may be already past his prime as a composer and music producer, but I’ll probably always like, or at least pay attention to his new Technopop songs, especially when he gives songs to random aidoru acts or groups out there, just like it was the case with Nogizaka46.

Anyway, the song is far from the classics from the past, but that’s just an obvious statement. The chorus can get quite annoying with all the “wow wow wow wow” chants, but I quite like the melody, and even more when TK does his magic, following it with his classic mix of piano and synths. In a way, it’s always nostalgic to hear a Komuro song, and I remember feeling the same when he composed a new song for Namie Amuro (安室奈美恵), titled “How do you feel now?”, during her final days in the industry.

“Route 246” was released as a digital single in July 2020, reaching #4 on the Oricon digital chart. Lyrics were written by Yasushi Akimoto (秋元 康), while music was composed by Tetsuya Komuro. As for the arrangement, it was done by Komuro and Music Design, which apparently is comprised of his own staff.

Source: https://www.amazon.co.jp/Route-246-%E4%B9%83%E6%9C%A8%E5%9D%8246/dp/B08D3JMX94