You’ll Melt More! Never Gives Up!

/ supremenothing

I love a lot of things about You’ll Melt More!, and one of those things is their sheer prolificness. While other groups take months to release a single with two songs on it, YLMM! release singles and EPs like a 24-hour factory of goodness, hardly even slowing down to catch a breath. But what’s important to mention here, is that this continuing flow of output is consistently high-quality and always a sure-fire crowd pleaser.

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And then there’s the music videos! The group has gone through the effort to make MVs for practically every song on their recent EP releases. I like the way they’ll produce a couple of videos that show off a somewhat considerable (but still fairly modest) budget, and then knock out some quick ones with hardly any money spent at all, relying strictly on lo-fi charm and hooks to get the point across. The videos often present themselves as labors of love by a group of girls who are clearly enjoying what they do, and that’s far more valuable than a lavish budget shot at some fancy location.

So right now we’re basking in the hangover left behind after the rollicking fun of “Never Give Up Drunk Monkeys” with a follow-up video for their song “Dahlia”. The song itself is a nice, upbeat number giving off a positive glow, accompanied by a kinda dark, but also kinda hopeful MV with idol-zombies, existential late-night wandering, gardening, and Younapi behind the wheel of an early model Ford T-Bird:

I also appreciate the way Yurumerumo! don’t usually go too far out of the way to explain the stories behind their MVs. There’s room for plenty of speculation and soul-searching interpretation left for the viewer to figure out on their own. That’s the way it oughta be done! My burning questions: Is this a world populated by zombies? (The cashier is one too!) Is the film projection a flashback back to a time before they became undead, or is it both a past and future plot device? Did the life-giving ritual of planting the dahlia seeds bring the girls back from a soul-crushing listless routine existence of nothing?  And how did the girls score that sweet T-Bird?

And hey. while we’re at it, let’s talk about the title song MV that came out a few weeks ago. Maniac posted it in the Weekender back when it debuted, but now that we’ve had time to process it, how great is this thing?

I’ve quite likely watched this more times than any other music video this entire year cause it’s so much fun and packed with details. The most obvious starting point is that the MV is a loving homage to the classic 1978 kung-fu film “Drunken Master”, right down to the logo intro at the beginning. The part of this video that makes me scratch my head a little is the modernized plot featuring some pretty sketchy office conditions. What the heck kind of workplace is this?!? I think I’ll interpret the antics of the awful boss as a metaphor for the brutal stress of inter-office politics with the intense demands of Japanese corporate life. And the actress in this video is Rina Takeda, star of such films as “High Kick Girl!” and “Gothic Lolita Battle Bear” (I’ve never seen that one.) 

I love the ending as well. Everybody, including the shipping delivery guy, gets in on a line-dance-a-thon and everything is good with the world. Heck, even the evil boss, with a new found respect for his abused employee, sees the error of his ways! Now that’s a nice finish.

You’ll Melt More!’s EPs, albums, and singles are all available as streaming options on Spotify, as well as purchasing and streaming options on Apple Music. Speaking of which, I came across an interesting issue with iTunes: I believe there’s some sort of lost-in-translation confusion going on and YLMM! has been listed there as “Hakomerumo!”, so until it gets sorted out, use that name to look them up and you’ll find what you’re looking for. And don’t forget that you can always get DRM-free lossless files from OTOTOY.

Lastly, let’s not forget Younapi has a new solo release out for the masses!

And goodness gracious, this is streaming on all the platforms as well, so make sure to take a moment to listen and enjoy Younapi’s work all legit-style. (And maybe buy it to seal the deal forever.) “Welcome to YO(u)NAP! World” is a charming four-song dose of adorable electronica that will warm your heart and make your life better. My favorite track is the closer, “Hello, See You”. It’s a timely dose of much-needed light now that the days are getting shorter.

Thank you, Miss Younapi, (and all of You’ll Melt More!) for inviting us into your world! Please take us away forever….