LOILO - Alice and Roxanne (Review)

LOILO
Alice and Roxanne
Review by Todd Nelson

LOILO is a six piece rock band consisting of Kohaku on vocals, Ryosuke on bass, Kohei on guitar, Nana on keyboards, Mamoru on drums, and Rin on Violin. The band formed in the second half of 2022.

I happened to stumble upon LOILO by chance when I was in Tokyo in March. I was familiar with some of the members from social media postings, but that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge. They happened to have a show one of the nights I was in Tokyo so I went to check it out. As many of you know there are so many many great live bands in Japan playing in live houses that are ‘flying under the radar’ , especially from an overseas perspective. LOILO is no exception, I came away impressed with their performance and loved their music. Since then their 1st EP, forget me not, is among my most played albums of this year (in addition to some standalone singles the band has released). Their sound contains elements of rock, jazz, classical, anisong, pop, etc. all blended together, combined with deep, moving, and thought provoking lyrics.

So it should come as no surprise that I have been greatly anticipating the release of their 2nd EP, Alice and Roxanne. How does the new EP compare to the band’s previous work?

I loved every minute of this EP the first time listening to it! Now several playthroughs later to absorb everything and gather my thoughts, my opinion hasn’t changed. Alice and Roxanne far exceeded my expectations.

I will be giving a brief breakdown and summary for each track, but to avoid being repetitive I will state some things up front since these points pretty much apply to every song on the EP.

Overall the sound and production on this release has a much deeper an fuller sound on the low end compared to the band’s previous releases. The band also leans a bit more into the rock genre on this release while still blending other genres into a truly unique sound. Every musician stands out on all of the tracks, I never got the feeling on any of the songs that an instrument was lost or buried in the background. On every track the six member’s performance is very tight performing as one cohesive unit.

From a lyrical standpoint, like their prior material, the focus is on things that people experience, suffer, and endure; what their inner thoughts are when dealing with such things; and what people are are willing to subject themselves to in order to achieve a goal. I highly recommend to take the time and translate the lyrics. They are poetic, some are dark, some are beautiful, and a few are both.

“the empty cradle”
As the title indicates this is a song about losing someone way before their time. I am not really sure where to start when talking about this track. After listening to it several times I can understand why this was the song selected as the first MV from the EP. So many surprises with this track. As the song title suggests this is a very sad and serious song. From my talking with one of the members it is based on a true event. I hope to learn more and report on it in an upcoming interview with LOILO, please wait for it.

From a musical standpoint, the first thing to mention is that Kohaku sings in English. This is the first LOILO song with English lyrics. Kohaku does an outstanding job here. She is a very talented vocalist and one thing that makes her standout is her ability to convey strong emotion in her singing. She is still able to do that here as well despite not being in her native language.

The musical composition itself blends numerous elements, a soft piano intro before diving into a somber violin led jig by Rin, backed by a very strong bass line and a heavy guitar riff, all while accompanied by sacred choral singing. The song alternates between soft and heavy moments throughout, building up the story and mood. Mamoru’s drumming is intricate throughout with a very interesting percussive sound during the bridge.

“Supreme Love for Ester”
A long time staple in their setlist, fans that have seen LOILO live must be very happy to see this song finally having an official recording. The lyrics to this song are quite dark and intense; to me it is about being addicted in an extremely toxic relationship. This song kicks off with a dance/electronica intro before getting into a rocky jazz groove. It is quite hard to describe the genres blended together but it totally works. It is a very fun song. Ryosuke really gets to show off his bass skills throughout this track in particular. Also worth noting is that this recorded version has some minor surprises for those that have heard the live version. Some of the tone effects have quite a different sound, and both Nana and Kohei have some really sweet solos in this version that I have not heard live. Overall this recorded version is a bit heavier than what I have heard the band perform live.

“Think in the Day, Dream in the Night”
The subject matter for this track is a bit lighter than the others and gives the listener a nice break; a romantic relationship and what it will hopefully grow into. This song as well has been part of the band’s setlist and finally getting a studio recording. This is another fun song and a bit of a throwback to 1940’s era music. Very jazzy, upbeat, with a big band type of sound merged with modern instruments. Kohaku really shines here singing with some very smoky vocals.

“Courage”
A song of rage and revenge. Perhaps the rockiest song on the EP, this one kicks off with a very heavy symphonic rock intro led by Rin’s violin play. This sequence is played on and off throughout the song when alternating between soft and heavy moments. The song is very hast paced. It may sound odd but this track seems to have some big band type beats, rhythms and vocals but with a hard rock sound – it totally works!

“RADIO DEMON”
I said that “Courage” MIGHT be the rockiest song on the EP, because “RADIO DEMON” is right there as well. This song is so hard to describe. Very heavy rocky moments, and times where Kohaku is almost singing in total isolation. Other times in addition to her ‘normal’ vocal range she will sing in a higher pitched ‘kawaii’ tone. Ominous choral vocals in the background occur throughout. At the apex of the song it is almost controlled chaos with the amount of distortion from various sound sources happening. The song is original all on its own and not a copy of anything, but I could easily see Yousei Teikoku playing something like this one. That is a compliment.
The lyrics to this song I think make it my favorite. How can you not love the line – “your god is The equal opportunity killer.” I hope to get clarification from the band what the song is exactly about, maybe it is open to interpretation. The themes I feel explored are selling out (one’s soul perhaps), being a pawn and manipulated.

“My sister in heaven”
The end of the EP eases the listener back down with an absolutely beautiful and powerful ballad. I feel this is the conclusion to the opening track “the empty cradle”, exploring what one thinks about and how they cope after losing a loved one. Containing soothing, powerful, and emotional vocals, and ending with a delicate outro accompanied with the sounds of nature.

Music is subjective of course. For me however, I can’t recommend Alice and Roxanne enough. It might end up being my EP of the year. Buy it or stream it now to judge for yourself. It is available on Apple Music and Spotify and other providers. Click here to stream the album from the service of your choice –> Listen to Alice and Roxanne

LOILO
Alice and Roxanne
1. the empty cradle
2. Supreme Love for Ester
3. Think in the Day, Dream in the Night
4. Courage
5. RADIO DEMON
6. My sister in heaven

LOILO Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4CMvJRp4AkUnLfwaZXL9tP?si=Ci1Tdv7aRAmXc-mSdH4TtA
LOILO YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@loilooffichial
LOILO X: https://x.com/LOILO_official
LOILO Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loilo_official/