all at once -- Macaron（マカロン）

Mushroom vol-au-vent

 

Well, Japanese television has had a maid, a pint-sized kid and, if memory serves, even a couple of neighbourhood mothers on bicycles. So why not a French chef?

Yup, in the summer of 2021, TV Tokyo broadcast a late-night weekly drama titled "Chef wa Meitantei"（シェフは名探偵...Chef est un détective）. In a French bistro in the heart of Japan's capital, chef Shinobu Mifune（三舟忍）simultaneously whipped up some master dishes while resolving his customers' existential issues. So, perhaps Mifune really wasn't a detective in the conventional sense; more like a counselor of sorts. Still, the show looked pretty classy.

The opening theme for "Chef wa Meitantei" was "Macaron" by the vocal duo all at once, so named because Hokkaido-born Itsuki and Miyagi-born Narito had wanted to bring all those listeners into their world in one big gulp. When I read that the former was a fan of Bruno Mars and the latter admired Dreams Come True, I just thought that "Yeah, these guys are all right by me!".

"Macaron" was all at once's 4th single from May 2021, and it's a bouncy pop number with a hint of light funk. It's pretty darn cheerful for a late-night program, but hey, who's complaining? Ra-U was responsible for words while he and Seiji Kameda（亀田誠治）took care of the music together. 

all at once has been around since 2018 or 2019. The two of them first got together when the Tokyo music school that they were attending held an event which was restricted to duos participating. Itsuki then asked for Narito's help and the rest was history. Apparently, the first song the two did together was a cover of Original Love's "Seppun"（接吻）; not a bad choice. Up to now, all at once has released nine digital download singles and one full self-titled album.

Here they are singing across from JR Shinjuku Station.