Release Date: February 29, 2012
Track Listing
- Sakura Regret
- Be With You
- Just A Little Bit
- Sakura Regret (Instrumental)
Review
Flower follow up their debut single Still with another R&B song, Sakura Regret. It is similar to their previous outing expressing anguish over lost love. This stays true to the well-honed EXILE family sound and is similar to Sandaime J-Soul Brothers’ ballads. If you enjoy that brand of Urban music, this will be perfect listening as you drown your broken heart in a big box of wine.
Of course, you don’t have to be heartbroken to enjoy this track, it’s a perfectly fine break from hyper genki idol music or flavour of the month, radio-friendly dance pop. While it doesn’t show any major growth from their last single, listening for the discerning R&B head or EXILE fan is still pleasant enough.
The b-sides Be With You & Just A Little Bit offset the moodiness with some uptempo flavour. The former is a generic bit of idol pop that could pass for some decent filler. The better of the 2 b-sides is Just A Little Bit which brings a bit of mid-tempo R&B/Funk into the mix.
One could say it’s comparable to early to mid 90’s Urban music. I found it had more of a U.K. vibe than an American one. If you need more recent groups to compare this song to, think of recent Chocolat or maybe some funkier tracks from Tokyo Girls’ Style.
Overall this was alright. Much like their debut, it’s nothing mind-blowing, but you can hear the foundation for something good coming down the line.
