30minutes night flight [w/ DVD, Limited Edition]

Maaya's latest mini album isn't bad, but at 30 minutes it is over pretty quick, and not so memorable. The songs are all decent. Her singing (like always) is great, the mixing is good, the instruments are okay, but the melodies...nothing sticks. There's the upbeat poppy opener "30minutes night flight," the relaxed, lounge song "dreaming," slow quiet "kioku," piano ballad "bokutachi ga koi wo suru riyuu," upbeat and sunny "setsuna," and dramatic orchestral "universe." Of these, perhaps "Universe" is the most original. But the others have more or less repetitive instrumental arrangements and decent, but uninspired, tunes. The result is a well-packaged and produced mini-album, with a strong unifying concept, but it's lacking "the spark" that you see in some of Maaya's other songs.

I was not personally very impressed by Maaya's previous album, "Yuunagi LOOP", so I was a little nervous about this mini-album, but I worried unnecessarily. Although the sound is still quite different from Maaya's work with Yoko Kanno, I think it showcases her voice a bit better than her previous work sans-Kanno, and is overall nicer to listen to. The DVD was a very fun addition. The little animated PV was incredibly sweet and interestingly stylized. I loved it. :3 Highly recommended!

I've heard many say that Yunagi Loop was an unsatisfying album. While I had no major conflict with it, I can see their point: it was largely one style and, musically, somewhat standard pop. This "mini-album" is quite different. Each song has a distinct style hardly resembling her last album. The music also gives a chance for Maaya to showcase her vocal talent. Energetic rock to soothing piano/vocal, upbeat to reflective; it may be just 30minutes, but it is quite a satisfying flight. The limited edition too is worth the extra cost. The "original film" music video is high quality and intricately linked to the music. It may take a bit to get beyond the oddity of animation and subject matter, but the video is very charming. Even the packaging itself is impressive. I was a bit let down by the quality of the Yunagi Loop limited edition, but here the DVD has its own designed case that fits comfortably into a sleeve with the CD itself. Even if mini-albums are not your normal fare, this one is certainly worth your time.