Review: Bolero / Kiss the Baby Sky / 忘れないで

Track List:
01. Bolero
02. Kiss the Baby Sky
03. 忘れないで (Wasurenaide / Don't Forget)
04. どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう？ (Why Did I Fall in Love With You?) -Royal Mirrorball Mix-
05-07. Instrumental tracks for 01-03.

Bolero:
The main track of the single. It's going to be used in an upcoming Japanese movie called Subaru, which is about a ballerina and based off a manga of the same name.
This song is unlike anything else Tohoshinki has done before. It still contains the same feeling as other Tohoshinki songs, but the closest track to Bolero in their previous works would have to be Forever Love (from their album "T"), and even that doesn't resemble it that closely. This, I think, is a good thing, because if they started to have a lot of redundancy in their songs I would be upset.
Their vocals are, as always, stuning. There's an especially nice rift in this song in which Micky Yoochun hits a very long and high note. Xiah Junsu and Hero Jejung also shine in this song, although it gives all of the members their own time to impress us.
The song is very slow and peaceful, with a sense of underlying tension. Personally it isn't one of my favorites, but it can't be denied that it's beautiful. The song is driven by stirring strings and classical instruments such as claronets (I'm pretty sure) and a harp. If you can imagine it, the best way to describe Bolero in a nut shell would have to be it sounds like winter.

Kiss the Baby Sky
Well, first of all, I think this song deserves a nod because Micky Yoochun wrote everything himself, including the lyrics...perhaps especially the lyrics. This song showcases, once again, Micky's atrophied English. Still, the way he's lined up English with Japanese sounds kind of charming, and whether you're a fan or not, you should be able to look past the odd title and enjoy the gem of a song that this is.
Firstly, I love the pre-chorus melody. It flows very easily and Jejung and Junsu's voices are sublime in it. The chorus is interesting, because all of the members are singing falsetto. Doesn't happen too often, huh!
One other vocal note is that Micky talks throughout this song. An example of what he says is: "How you guys doin' so far? You guys with me?"
What really impresses me about this song is the instrumental. It works perfectly with the vocals and is interesting in its own right. It's simple, but I like it.

忘れないで / Don't Forget
The music was written by Hero Jejung and a Korean man who, I am ashamed to say, I do not know the name of. The lyrics were written by Jejung.
Another slow ballad...which is what we'll mostly be seeing from Jejung, I think. This song is very heavy on the strings, almost annoyingly so. They're pretty, but a bit too present I think. The melody is pretty, simple, and a bit melancholic, with a nice emphasis on the word "Wasurenaide" at the end of the chorus. ("Wasurenaide" meaning "Don't forget")
I don't like this song nearly as much as the other two, mainly because of the strings. They almost resemble the stirngs in "Balloons" (from their third Korean album), but they're out of place in this wistful song.

どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう？ / Why Did I Fall in Love With You? -Royal Mirrorball Mix-
I don't understand what the remixer was trying to do, or if he understood Japanese at all. The lyrics to this song are quite sad, as they're about being unable to tell the person you love that you love them, and finally giving them up as they're going to get married to someone else.
But if you don't understand Japanese, and you're unfamiliar with the (beautiful) original song, you might think this song was about catching butterflies in the park. It's upbeat, with joyful piano, harp, and other sparkly sounds. This also resembles "Balloons"!
I don't even enjoy the irony of the happy sound with the sad lyrics. It's just completely out of place ( and the remix itself isn't even that great, regardless of the lyrics! )

All in all, I very much enjoyed this single. If you want to buy it, it's available on YesAsia.com (although if I were you, I'd buy their upcoming album, The Secret Code, instead, because all three original tracks will be on it...those cheapskates!)

Watch the Bolero promotional video on YouTube!