Tracklist:
01 Don’t let you down
02 material girl
03 Don’t let you down (Instrumental)
04 material girl (Instrumental)

AYUSE KOZUE releases her latest single “Don’t let you down”. A very nice, happy, upbeat synth-pop song. Now it seems that her collaboration with electro-pop artist Aira Mitsuki has left an effect on her on wanting to use the vocoder. Even if it’s just the intro. When the intro started, I was very surprised. Expecting a very electro-pop inspired song, but I was wrong. Even though she keeps experimenting with her synths. I’m glad I was wrong though, she has a gorgeous voice and the vocoder would just hide that away.

Don’t let you down starts with AYUSE’s heavily vocoded voice, which makes a very nice intro. Then her normal voice kicks in. The song is pure “feel good” feeling if you know that I mean. It just makes you want to smile, even if you don’t understand the lyrics. The song has a kind of 80’s synth-pop vibe, which in my book is great. But there isn’t much to the song. The song itself is good, and makes you feel all good and happy. But it isn’t something I would listen to all the time.

On the other hand material girl goes back to her R&B roots, but still isn’t afraid to use her synths. I was expecting a Madonna cover honestly, but I’m glad it wasn’t. The song is down-tempo, and I find it relaxing. As I am not a huge fan of R&B, AYSUE KOZUE is one of the few artists that make me love the genre.

Favorite tracks:
01 Don’t let you down
02 material girl

Single score:
B