CURE

Shoegaze and Vocaloid make a surprisingly great combination. Shoegaze mainly uses quiet, delicate vocals that are barely audible, which almost completely eliminates the sense of artificiality between Vocaloid and human vocals. In fact, I think Vocaloid can play a bigger role than human vocals when it comes to delivering a dreamlike feel. I believe this is why shoegaze is slowly but surely finding its place in the Vocaloid scene. This album fully utilizes these strengths of Vocaloid, turning the wall-of-sound guitar noise of shoegaze and Miku's vocals into something that feels like a cool yet humid summer breeze, evoking even a somewhat bittersweet emotion. In tracks like 'Nostalgia' and '海岸線', the active use of piano sounds to add to the album's atmosphere also stands out. Keeping the running time short also relieves ear fatigue that could otherwise spoil the fun. However, in the case of 'サマーゲイザー', while the cool Shimokita-kei sound was nice, it's hard to call it shoegaze, and it's unfortunate that its cohesion with the previous track falls short. Overall, it might not be seen as a pure shoegaze album, but instead, it lowers the barrier to entry by blending lighter sounds so that people new to shoegaze can appreciate its charm relatively easily. For this reason, I think it's a highly recommended album for getting into the Mikugaze genre. Best Track: Nostalgia, CURE

An album that captures summer nostalgia in a warm shoegaze sound. It feels perfect to listen to in a season just like this.

Heavy-sounding Shimokita-kei shoegaze. Built on a foundation of distorted guitar sound, each track presents a new sound and sensation. It is a fantastic album that clearly showcases Nerdneko's world. Although it's short, there was no time to be bored because every track is high-caliber and fresh.