4 out of 5

Label: Avex Trax

Produced by: ?

With the yearly demands of idol output, and inevitable trend towards singles once signing with Avex Trax, I’d been a bit worried about Vicke Blanka’s progression. While boy band pop has always been part of the formula, it was the singer’s vocal- and piano-playing chops matched to incredibly catchy tunes that drew me in – landing his best work in some sweet spot between classic Ben Folds and the performative operatics of Queen – Devil, Fate, and the EPs of that era stripped out a lot of personality, relegating more airtime to linear, glossy ballads, which don’t appeal to me. I had that sad, sinking feeling when I put on older Vicke vs. newer: that a time would come when a release wouldn’t even have a single song that I could get in to, and I’d start eyeing my back catalogue with regret. (Subtext: I am dumb, and like to either own all or nothing of an artist.)

As such, and in the wake of both a greatest hits and a couple of live sets – somewhat low effort releases, from my perspective – I didn’t immediately jump on to Vicke’s 2023 EP, Worldfly, as quickly as I had prior drops. It represented, in overly dramatic fashion, a Rubicon-crossing listen, and I know you’re eager to know how that went, but I forgot to spoiler-tag the rating, so…

Yeah, Worldfly is fantastic. It hits me in the ways “classic” Vicke singles would, both in the emotional guts and with those irrepressive hooks, and – importantly – within the same song. The EP also does the full range of Vicke’s styles, from aforementioned Queen pop on the title track – which somehow manages to be epic, even at only a minute long – to ska-rock (Kakumei), to something super scrappy (Luca), and, yes a quality ballad (Sad in Saudi Arabia), which works due to the set’s varied production and being positioned between much richer tunes. While some of the tracks feel like they end a bit abruptly, it gets a pass on that for piling, essentially, all great tunes together… but then it does interrupt the flow with the inclusion of commentary between each song, and while what’s said is probably interesting (I don’t speak Japanese, sorry, so this may just be chatter), it’s disruptive no matter what way you cut it.

Still, totally easy enough to make your own playlist without the commentary, and then you’re back in step with the best of Vicke’s material, making me hopeful for a new phase in the artist’s career that combines pop maturity with some of the quirk and nuance of early stuff.