Momoiro Clover Z - stay gold

Ever since Ariyasu Momoka's departure from the group in January 2018, Momoiro Clover Z have gone through a bit of a re-imagining similar to the way they did when Hayami Akari left in the spring of 2011. Because of this, the time since Momoka's departure has seen Momoiro Clover Z push many boundaries, especially when it comes to their music.

On their 11^th anniversary in May 2019, they released their self-titled 5th album. The release offered a sound that was highly eclectic, to an extent not seen since their second album 5^th Dimension. The group is generally notorious for not sticking to a single style of music due to the nature of their concept, and, of course, this eclectic musical reputation carries over to their latest single stay gold.

It's an interesting single because it is the first in a long time where Momoiro Clover Z take musical influence from another contemporary group. The title track has a kind of alternative, dark, lo-fi rock composition more akin to something from alternative idols such as EMPiRE. The guitars and drums are the most prominent instrumental elements and the song consistently sits in a melodic-minor-esque key that manages to provide a sense of “hope” in a song that is otherwise rendered fairly dark. This style of music is certainly fascinating in that, despite the bright mix, the deceptively hopeful-sounding melody and the silver-lining guitar leads in the instrumental, there is still a bleak element musically that seems to conflict with the relatively uplifting message of the lyrics.

While the lyrics are sort of an attempt to be uplifting or encouraging, at the same time the music might suggest that this is more of a “tough love” situation, as some phrases also suggest that the target is being chastised. While it might not be the most interesting song at first, it does prove to be fairly multi-dimensional upon further listening.

The next song HOLIDAY is a complete 180 from stay gold in tone. Musically, there are elements that seem to come straight out of pre-Vietnam era American pop music and that would not sound out of place as part of the soundtrack for a film like “American Graffiti”. This is mostly thanks to the syncopated riff in the horn section that is very reminiscent of Glen Miller's In the Mood and the very classic rock/blues melody that seems almost ripped straight out of Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode. This vintage sound, however, is quite short-lived as after about 33 seconds, the song goes into a more pop-oriented, feel-good gospel style. The song also offers a countdown from three at the end, which might lead some to believe that they intend to use it for their Momoiro Uta Gassen live taking place at Yokohama Arena on New Year’s Eve.

The song itself isn't too challenging and the musical references at the beginning certainly add to its charm, however brief they may be. The chorus is easy to sing along to and memorable. Many fans might find it stuck in their heads for prolonged periods of time.

The next half of the single is comprised of new versions of older songs that are dubbed “ZZ versions”. The two songs that have received this treatment on the single are Coco Natsu and Santa-San. Overall, the various ZZ versions have received mixed reactions from fans as some may always prefer the original versions, but these two are definitely strong contenders.

It's been nine years since Coco Natsu made its debut as a song on Momoiro Clover's second major label release, Pinky Jones. Because of this, Coco Natsu has a deep-rooted history in the group's catalog and, thus, it is quite difficult to recapture what made the original song so enjoyable. However, the new version is not setting out to recapture the original feeling of the song, but instead to filter the song through the lens of what makes modern Momoiro Clover Z so likeable.

What this version delivers is a more dynamic instrumental coupled with some of the most character-derived vocal performances Momoiro Clover Z have ever produced. The new instrumentation offers a clear departure from the original’s in timbre, but few, if any, musical alterations have been made to this song. The instrumental still manages to convey, with the utmost clarity, the energy and character of a song one would expect from Hyadain.


What were once sequenced instruments have now been replaced with real ones, the most prominent example of which is the electric guitar. The only major structural alteration made to Coco Natsu crossing into the ZZ version is something of a reference to the individual vocal tracks from each member's recording session that were leaked online several years ago, as each member sings the chorus of the song solo after the bridge section. That is a bit of a musical Easter egg that many fans might enjoy.

Vocally, Momoiro Clover Z, despite being much older than they were when they first released this song back in 2010, seem to sound like they are having more fun with it this time around than on the original. This is especially true with Momota Kanako, who not only manages to let out a higher-pitched voice in the bridge section but also manages to outdo herself with the “natsu” at the end of the song. Instead of saying it the way she did at the end of the original, this version of the song features Kanako yelling and sustaining it for eight seconds a capella, ending with her laughing at the absurdity of it all. Momoiro Clover Z may have become adults since the original debut of the song, but they have managed to retain their playful and silly nature.

The final song on the single is the ZZ version of Santa-San, and once again this version of the song, musically speaking, is very faithful to the original, with the only real difference being that the instrumentation replaces the sequenced instruments with a more electronic sound. This includes a video game-like synth flying through massive arpeggios during the chorus sections of the song.

The most noticeable changes made to this song are in the vocals and lyrics. Maybe it was decided that “Santa” was said too many times in the original, as it is constantly switched up. One of the more interesting elements of this song vocally is that what were formerly Ariyasu Momoka's lines were given to Tamai Shiori and every time Shiori sings one of those lines, her vocals are accompanied by a deep saturation of reverb and other forms of vocal post-processing.


Another curiosity about the vocals is the famous “Reni-Chan no” section where all of the members except for Takagi Reni would originally say their line followed by Reni singing her own. But in this version, the opening line that was once said by everyone now seems to be multiple overlaid tracks of Kanako making various silly voices while saying the line. This adds a surprising amount of character to the track and it would probably be a difficult task to listen to it without cracking a smile. It is extremely charming and playful and probably the closest a studio recording has ever gotten to capturing the feeling of Momoiro Clover Z performing this song live for one of their Christmas concerts.

As the first single after their self-titled album, this release consciously decides not to try and match the level of intensity or snarkiness of the album. Momoiro Clover Z go for a more serious song to begin with, but lighten it up with the next tracks, and they are as fun and goofy as ever by the end of the single. The release may not sway those who lost interest in the group since Momoka's departure to come back, but current fans will probably enjoy seeing their favorite group still acting goofy and delivering a recording that’s as close as possible to one of their live performances. This definitely seems to be a single that goes out to the fans.

The release can be picked up in physical form on sites such as Amazon, and streamed online via platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify omits the Coco Natsu ZZ and Santa-San ZZ tracks, however. Limited versions of the single come with the first two tracks and a separate Blu ray disc, and they can be ordered based on which member you wish to have a trading card of. The regular version of the single comes with all four tracks and the original trading card featuring all of the members.