With the tragic loss of frontman Masahiko Shimura (志村正彦) last Christmas, many people counted Fujifabric completely out. It really takes some dynamic force to continue on after losing your primary songwriter and singer. But, with “夜明けのBEAT” (Yoake no BEAT, Dawn Beat) leading the charge, the remaining members of Fujifabric really show it with the release of the band’s latest album “MUSIC” yesterday.

Even with this one song, you can definitely feel a sense of energy and urgency that really wasn’t there in the past album “CHRONICLE”. The guest drumwork of 東京事変 (Tokyo Jihen)’s Toshiki Hata (畑利樹) and the guitarwork of Soichiro Yamauchi (山内総一郎) really standout in this track especially. But, with work like this, it really hurts to know that Masahiko Shimura won’t be around to develop this further. The only hope is that the band can somehow manage to continue on and build what they’ve lost into something even grander.

More info on the album and the band can be found at Fujifabric’s official website.