Have you heard? The previews of I seek, Daylight and Tadaima from Arashi’s new, yet-to-be-released single I seek/Daylight. Band member Aiba Masaki has played the songs on his radio show, Rekomen, and I’m loving the songs so far.

Admittedly, out of all three, my least favourite is I seek, despite it being for the theme songs of Ohno’s drama. (Background info: Ohno is supposedly my favourite out of the members.) Perhaps watching the drama would make me like the song more, as it happened with Ouroboros and Sakura, but then again, romance dramas aren’t my forte.

Anyone familiar with Arashi’s music will be able to spot the unmistakable Arashi-ness in I seek. The same sort of music as Fukkatsu Love, Meikyuu  Love Song etc. Daylight bears quite a lot of the same Arashi signature as well, but the Sakurap fits in the song really well. The song also feels more memorable to me as compared to I seek. Fun fact: Sho wrote the rap at the request of Jun. Jun wanted some rap that voices out the thoughts of his character in the drama 99.9: Keiji Senmon Bengoshi. And so Sho got to read the scripts of the first two episodes as research for his rap writing. It’s also the first Sakurap in a single in four years, after the supernova next to the door in Facedown.

Tadaima is definitely my favourite song of the three, even though I tend to prefer more upbeat, rock songs. Tadaima showcased their voices really well, especially Ohno’s (of course, I’m biased…). The lyrics are really touching, and together with the delivery… It seems more fitting for a 24-hour TV drama rather than an arena tour. A tad too sad/serious for a concert tour maybe? But heart-warming nonetheless. It leaves you with the same sense of longing as Furusato, but whereas Furusato was about the hometown, Tadaima more as much about the people as the place. You can read the lyrics and translations on Yarukizero’s blog here. I’m definitely looking forward to the final version of Tadaima, and of course, listening to Arashi sing it during the arena tours. (On DVD of course.)

Speaking of arena tours, it has started already! As an overseas fan with no possibility of attending an Arashi concert in the near and foreseeable future, I’ll be waiting on concert reports and the DVD release. Here’s wishing that everyone attending will have a blast!