One of the nice things for fans of Johnny’s Entertainment groups is the frequency of their comebacks. The agency’s stable of acts each average two to four releases a year, usually including a stuffed-to-the-brims album. It’s only been about three months since Kis-My-Ft2’s last full-length, but they’re back with L.O.V.E, which sees them donning their trademark roller skates once more.

L.O.V.E is on the splashier end of the Johnny’s spectrum, coming across like a mix between modern dance pop and immense Vegas sideshow. Its verses resound with an aggressive EDM stomp, complimented by a chant-like melody that gives the song a militant drive. This contrasts with its soaring chorus, which abounds with the kind of cinematic energy you’d expect from a movie musical rather than a pop song. This sense of over-the-top cheese is nothing new for Johnny’s Entertainment, but it’s always a bit disarming the first time around.

Further listens help to ease the track’s stylistic transitions, and soon L.O.V.E is incessantly rattling through your brain. It’s not among Kis-My-Ft2’s very best, but easily continues their remarkably consistent singles run. And like so many other songs in their repertoire, it feels like the idea of restraint was never even an option. Western pop music has long since shied away from this kind of melodic bombast, so it’s refreshing that it’s still successful somewhere in the world — even if it’s via a talent agency that makes its content notoriously difficult for international fans to access.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywnV50q7S78

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