I personally really love the new album. The variety is really fun. I think it gives a great interpretation of where Momoclo is right now and what they went through throughout 2018. Idk how many people here are AE or AEI members but in one of the interviews one of the members said that if 2018 had been different, in regards to Momoka and how insanely busy their year was, they could have had a very different 5th album. In regards to favorite album, for the longest time 5th Dimension was my favorite, but going back it's really hard for me to choose. They are all very unique and all carry songs that were super important to the growth of Momoclo.
Oh, and some people were talking about Hoero a little while ago, there's a recording of it on the latest Gu Choki Party album but I guess still no Momoclo Z ver.?
P.s. sorry I haven't been active. But it looks like there's a lot of great discussion here I would like to be a part of and I will do my best to check in more frequently :)
I was eventually able to consider the already referenced performance of 「レディ•メイ」 (is it Mei or May?) within "The Show", in conjunction with the official MV which was published in June. Obviously enough, I had listened to song at the time of the album release, but could not progress past the first impression of a shallow, if slightly contrasting, bitterness. In some way, I was reminded of the paradoxically "realistic" admonishment of 「桃色空」, whose relevance eluded me for a while. Just as for that earlier song (which is now one of my favourites), a deeper understanding could only mature through a clearer awareness of MCZ's work as a whole and, most importantly, of their present historical reality. We have here a poignant sense of how much a fleeting image (or figment) of youth can actually resemble to the frailties of adulthood. Their usual playfulness (with the "sexiness" as an all too credible joke) in performing the song, does not in any way diminishes its intensity. Today, on the contrary, it seems much more relevant than ever.
On a general note, I strongly believe that the widespread (and possibly correct) conviction of a certain loss of focus in MCZ's purely musical production, should be tempered with a serious consideration of their current situation and artistic trajectory, in its entirety.
In the end, to those who believe that MCZ are not interesting or thought-provoking anymore (alas! There are many here), I would humbly suggest to make a "final" extra effort.