Vanilla Unity Special Album - Farewell & Tonight

Vanilla Unity released their debut album in early 2006, and put out a second album in March this year. They're not exactly topping charts and selling hotcakes, but two albums in two years, along with contributions to the Palace S soundtrack, is certainly promising output for a band. Their latest album Farewell & Tonight consists of a "Special CD" and a "Mini CD". The Mini CD contains three new tracks, while the Special CD comes with live and, uh, special versions of earlier songs.

Starting from the top, we have live versions of Tomorrow, "How Can I Forget You", Hero, and Crave from their debut album. Tomorrow (Track 2) is a fun and energetic pop punk number with that essential combination of fast beats, catchy refrains, suspiciously trivial lyrics, and some healthy screaming. Hero (Track 4) mixes the screaming with a lilting rock ballad that alternates effectively between soft and loud with layered vocals and a dramatic melody. This live track definitely does more for the song than the earlier album version, which was already quite good. Even better though is "How Can I Forget You" (Track 3), a surprisingly expressive number that builds from quiet sentiments to a climactic outcry. The band also offers a decent cover of Nuno Bettencourt's Crave (Track 5), which fits well with Vanilla Unity's overall sound.

The album comes with both an instrumental (Track 7) and a live version (Track 1) of "Like, Like", which was originally featured in the Palace S soundtrack. This very likeable song has a great beat and easygoing melody that makes good use of layering vocals and catchy shifts between soft and loud. The live version here feels fresh and energetic, and the keyboard, which was significantly less prominent in the album version, adds to the track's playful tone. "With You" (Track 6), also from the Palace S OST, is an indistinct punk pop number with strong beats and a fun melody, but a comparatively subdued tone. This "special version" offers slightly different arrangement than the original version, but not different enough to matter.

Interestingly, moving to the Mini CD, the three new tracks offer a completely different mood than the band's previous songs. While their live tracks are loud and energetic, new songs "Farewell My Love", Dreamer, and "Legend of the Mountain Boy" take on a light, mellow, lulling quality. Opening with gentle, high-pitched vocals, "Farewell My Love" (Track 1) makes use of interesting instrumentation and rather strange transitions, creating a soft, whimsical atmosphere before launching into slightly louder emo territory. Similarly soft, Dreamer (Track 2) gives off an ambience of dreamy melancholy, with clear vocals against a simple piano-driven melody and a pop-friendly refrain. Closing the album is "Legend of the Mountain Boy" (Track 3), which is perhaps the polar opposite of the album's first track, Tomorrow. Starting as a whisperingly emotive acoustic number, this updated folk song gradually takes on some string and electronic sounds, but stays soothing and wistful, bringing the album to a quiet and comforting end.

It's almost uncanny how much Vanilla Unity's sound differs over the two parts of the album. In fact, one could easily imagine that these were actually two separate bands, but I must say that I find both sides of the band equally appealing. While the new tracks are rather surprising given the band has made its name on louder offerings, they fit in quite well with the album, providing a soft nighttime farewell, a lullaby of sorts to end a day of rocking.