Welcome to the twenty-first Music Highlights post, where I talk about music I higlhlight.

This post is yet again delayed, due to circumstances. However, I do bring some stuff along for this post! Denonbu's been on fire with their releases, several releases that I've been following closely, and a quite old song pick.

Now, here are today's songs!

#1: Toarutowa

First of all, Denonbu recently has been bringing some really good stuff to the forefront. Let's talk about the first of two Denonbu song here, Toarutowa. This is TAKU INOUE's second work for Denonbu, after Mani Mani (also Kazune's song).

I think this song really shows how TAKU INOUE has grown as an artist. I am putting this song at least on par with his major debut song, 3:12. It's that good. The song incorporates some elements that would normally be seen as part of hyperpop, but also, curiously, incorporates the sound of the Andor Genesis. I mean, the arcade her family owns is named Fardraut...

#2: VOY@GER

Still in futuristic land, let's talk about... THE iDOLM@STER? For 2021's five-branch song, iM@S decided to take the leap to futuristic land, and we're introduced to VOY@GER. Given the focus on bringing the future of entertainment that has been felt from Bandai Namco lately, this is quite on-point.

While the song reflected 2021 iM@S' EDM bias, the concept movie brought back names such as director Atsushi Nishigori (iM@S anime, among other things).

#3: 花月ノ夢

I just said in a previous post that Hololive has been choosing some very interesting names to work with making songs. This time, their pick is even more interesting. This artist is an artist in at least two sense of the word. As a music producer, his works are already internationally recognized. But even more impressive that, other than being a music producer, he is also a well-known illustrator, and he actually designed a Hololive virtual talent himself. Yes, I am talking about Kanzaki Hiro, who made Sakura Miko's latest song 花月ノ夢 (Kagetsu no Yume).

The illustrator of the very cute Himemori Luna, interestingly, makes songs in a more mature genre: trance. After I talked about Shishiro Botan's melodic dubstep, then Sakura Miko comes in with trance, and trance also pretty atypical for a group that is more idol-oriented (I actually heard an idol group who does psychedelic trance, but nothing as popular as hololive).

#4: Eat Sleep Dance

Next, I'll talk about the second Denonbu song in this post. Like TAKU INOUE, Moe Shop also returned to make Shian's second song. Like Shian's first song, good night baby, this song was first put as the home page song of Denonbu's website. Unlike good night baby, however, the instrumental more closely resembles songs like WONDER POP and Cerise, rather than the style usually associated with Moe Shop. I like it, however.

This song also has pretty heavy topics in its lyrics, like good night baby, incorporating space-time.

#5: Before I Rise

Finally, and I hope I have not covered this yet, is the theme song of a game made by the collaboration of WFS and Key. Yes, that Key. Yes, Jun Maeda is involved in this song. Jun Maeda's compositions have always had a special place in my heart, with its touching melodies. This song also has quite creative time-signature changes, quite catching me off-guard. As for the arrangement, this song leans into electronic, and I quite enjoy it.

Heaven Burns Red is a project that I had heard one time, then essentially forgot it until this month, where someone brought it up, and the memory is back again. Looking forward to Jun Maeda's soundtrack in the game!

That's all songs for today, see you next post!