未来からカラフルに瞬く夏の大三角形!!
トベタ・バジュンが〈Colorful Pop from Techno World〉をキャッチに送り出した（写真左より）山川二千翔、浜田彩加、宮川里奈の3人組——Cupitron。トベタといえば以前はテクプリのサウンド面を後見し、現在はつりビットも手掛ける多才なクリエイターですが、近未来的なSF世界をモチーフにカラフルなテクノ・ポップを描くCupitronのコンセプトは、かつてMACHO ROBOT名義でも披露された彼の電子音楽×ダンス・ミュージックの一面が表出したものと言えるのかもしれません。
昨年6月にデビュー曲“サマーカイジュウ”を配信してお披露目ライヴを成功させたトリオは、いきなりTIF出演も果たし、9月に初シングル“ユニコーンパレード”をリリースしました。今年2月にはセカンド・シングル“バッテリー”を発表し、マンスリーの定期ワンマン〈Galaxy Party〉も好調に重ねている真っ最中。この6月に1周年を迎え、タイミング良く彩加がNHK Eテレの番組「Rの法則」レギュラーに抜擢されるという吉報も重なるなか、2度目のTIF出演を目前にしてニュー・シングル“ロボットボーイ ロボットガール”が届きました!
これまでのシングル表題曲がいずれもキラキラした意匠とエモーショナルな美メロの織り合わされたアッパーな出来だったのに対し、今回の“ロボットボーイ ロボットガール”はダンサブルなエレクトロに乗せて大らかなメロディーを聴かせ、人間味のあるキャッチーさを感じさせるメルヘンチックな逸曲に仕上げられています。作曲は前シングルで“電子計算機の夢”を書いた久下真音が起用され、作詞をトベタ、編曲をトベタと中村祐介（BLU-SWING）が担うデビュー以来の体制は不動。また、“バッテリー”に関与した玉城和夢（akinyan electro）が引き続きプロダクションに助力しているのもポイントでしょう。
また、仕様ごとに異なるカップリング曲も、東洋的な旋律とウォブリーなダイナミズムが交差する“宇宙でミルクココア”を筆頭にどれも興奮モノの出来映え。開放的なスケール感のあるダンス・トラック“We are Cupitron”には玉城が関与し、ナンセンスな詞も愉快な“π”ではトベタとも縁深いPROGRESSIVE FOrM系の疋田哲也＋NILが援護しているのも注目です。さらに、鬼才アクフェン（!）がホラー・インク名義での仕事に近いファンキーな手捌きで“サマーカイジュウ”をリミックスするというサプライズもサラリと実現。とはいえ、トベタの一貫したクォリティー・コントロールも功を奏して、そうした名前を気にせずとも過去最高に充実した楽曲が揃っているのだから素晴らしいです。
なお、一着あたり200個のLEDを搭載した今回の衣装は何と1677万通りもの色彩を表現できるそうですが、3人のキュートな瞬きと楽曲の放つカラフルな煌めきがそこにさらなる彩りをもたらしているのは言うまでもありません。夏の大三角形よりも眩しいCupitronの輝きに、この夏は大注目ってことです!
Cupitron "Robot Boy Robot Girl"
By: Koji Dejima
The Summer Triangle twinkles colorfully from the future!
Cupitron -- Bajune Tobeta (musician/filmmaker/producer) sent out this trio formed by Nichika Yamakawa, Saika Hamada, and Rina Miyakawa under the catch phrase [Colorful Pop from Techno World]. Tobeta is a versatile creator, who used to oversee t.c.princess (idol group dissolved in 2013) of the overall sound aspects, and currently works with Tsuri Bit (idol group), and the concept of Cupitron, which depicts colorful techno pop in the motif of neo-future sci-fi, shows an aspect of his crossing of electronic music with dance music, which he used to perform under the name of MACHO ROBOT.
After releasing their debut song “Summer Kaiju (meaning Summer Monster)” online and making their unveiling concert a major success last June, this trio soon got the opportunity to perform at TIF (Tokyo Idol Festival) and released their first single “Unicorn Parade” in September. This February, they released their second single “Battery,” and their own show, [Galaxy Party], has been held monthly on a great note. They marked their first anniversary this June, and at just the right time, Saika was chosen for a regular member of a TV show called [R-no-Housoku (meaning Law of R)] aired by NHK Educational TV. Amid all of these series of happy events, Cupitron made a new release of “Robot Boy Robot Girl” right before their second TIF.
While all previous single-released title songs by Cupitron had an upbeat groove in which fancy glitter is interlaced with beautiful and emotional melodies, “Robot Boy Robot Girl” is rather a fantasy-like artwork designed to give listeners the feel of humane catchiness as it plays relaxing melodies along to danceable electro pop. The song is composed by Kushita Mine, who wrote “Denshikeisanki no Yume (meaning Dream of the Electronic Computer)” on the last single, the lyrics are by Tobeta, and Tobeta and Yusuke Nakamura (BLU-SWING, sound creator/musician/producer) edited it; these members haven’t changed since Cupitron made their debut. Also important is the point that Nagomu Tamaki (akinyan electro, DJ/track maker) has been taking part in the production since the last single “Battery.”
Meanwhile, B-side songs which differ for each edition are also excellent in their outcomes, including “Uchu de Milk Cocoa (meaning Hot Chocolate in Space),” in which the oriental melody and wobbly dynamism cross each other. Also noteworthy are facts that Tamaki was involved in the making of the expansive and large-scale dance track “We are Cupitron,” while Tetsuya Hikita+NIL from PROGRESSIVE FOrM, which Tobeta has close relation to, backed up the track “π”, - a piece with nonsense-but-amusing lyrics. Moreover, the genius musician, Akufen successfully surprises us by remixing “Summer Kaiju” in a funky manner, - something akin to his works made under his other pseudonym, ‘horror inc.’ In any case, thanks to Tobeta’s consistent quality control, all the numbers are the most satisfactory ever even if you don’t take into account those names.
By the way, each costume is equipped with 200 LED bulbs, and altogether are able to make no less than 16.77 million of color patterns, though, their twinkling cuteness and the bright and multicolored music numbers definitely make them even more colorful. This summer, give great attention to Cupitron – they are brighter than the Summer Triangle!
