Friday, May 12, 2017

Band Review: Kyosuke Himuro


There were two great surprises while listening to Kyosuke Humuro this week.

The first was Steve Stevens, who frequently plays guitar for Himuro; I love him! I have been a fan of his work with Billy Idol for years. I knew that was not all he did, but this is the first time I have heard any of it. Stumbling across it without specifically looking for it was pretty awesome.

I become aware of Himuro himself because of a song he did with Gerard Way, "Safe and Sound". I like the song a lot (I wrote about it a little years ago), but that was all I knew until this review.

Having now seen footage of Himuro performing live, I see a very similar energy to Gerard's, where it feels very fitting that they have collaborated. There is so much charisma coming through.

That will not be as visible in the video for "Kiss Me". It is one of my favorite songs, along with "Claudia" but the video feels a little over-directed. It may be that all of the magnetism breaks out when Kyosuke is in front of an audience, perhaps feeding off of the crowd's energy to pull them in, but it is powerful. He reminds me a little of Elvis as well.

None of that is to negate the value of straight listening to the music, but his stage presence - even through video - is phenomenal.

Well worth checking out. I am not just listening; I am printing out lyrics (even though I do not understand them) because I need to know.




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