is the eleventh studio album by Japanese rock band Sid, released on March 23, 2022, by Ki/oon Music. The digital single "Jiu no Kuchizuke" is the opening theme of ''

Heaven Official's Blessing ''Heaven Official's Blessing'' (Chinese: 天官赐福, pinyin: ''Tiān Guān Cì Fú'') is a Chinese novel series written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (Chinese: 墨香铜臭). A donghua series adaptation was first released on Bilibili and Funimation ...

''.

Background

The concept of ''Umibe'' is "Reiwa Kayo",

Kayōkyoku is a Japanese pop music genre, which became a base of modern J-pop. ''The Japan Times'' described ''kayōkyoku'' as "standard Japanese pop" or " Shōwa-era pop". ''Kayōkyoku'' represents a blend of Western and Japanese musical scales. Music ...

of the

Reiwa era is the current Japanese era name, era of Japan's official calendar. It began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Emperor Akihito's elder son, Naruhito, Enthronement of the Japanese emperor, ascended the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan. The ...

. However, initially the members thought of making an album centered on

city pop is a loosely defined form of Japanese pop music that emerged in the late 1970s and peaked in the 1980s. It was originally termed as an offshoot of Japan's Western-influenced "new music", but came to include a wide range of styles – including ...

. Mao, the vocalist and writer of all the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

, said that the first part of the album to be produced was the lyrics, for the first time in the band, and that the key to the album is the words. The Umibe promotion tour was scheduled for shortly after the release, but had to be postponed due to Mao's health problems. It took place about a year later, from April to May 2023.

Release

On July 4, 2021, ''

'' animation began serialization and the chosen opening theme was "Jiu no Kuchizuke" by Sid, released as a digital single on the 18th. In mid-January 2022, Sid announced a new album, ''Umibe,'' set to be released on March 23. On March 1, the pre-save of the track "Damashi Ai" began and its music video was released on YouTube in the evening. Soon after, they started an experimental tour on movie theaters in five cities across Japan. On March 8 the song "Daisuki dakara..." also became available for pre-save. ''Umibe'' pre-sale started on March 15. It was released in three editions, the regular one only having the 11-track CD. The "Artistic Edition" comes with a 40-page photo booklet and a DVD in

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

containing the music videos for the title track "Umibe", "Damashi Ai" and their respective

making-of In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK (electronic press kit) vid ...

s. In the "Poetic Edition", the album is a 100-page hardcover leather book where the lyrics were written in poetry and explained by vocalist Mao. After the release, a lottery campaign was held among the album buyers where it was possible to win posters and autographs.

Critical reception

''Bounce'' magazine, in the April 2022 issue, stated that ''Umibe'' has Sid's characteristic sentimentality, incorporating genres such as shoegaze and

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

in the title track and chilling lyrics such as "Daisuki dakara...".

Track listing

;Artistic Edition

Personnel

* Mao – vocals * Shinji – guitar * Aki – bass * Yūya – drums

Charts

References

{{Authority control Japanese-language albums 2022 albums CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja) Sid (band) albums Ki/oon Records albums