It runs a single song and still lands, because Afterglow was never about being the loudest band in the scene, it's about five childhood friends refusing to drift. "Tsunagu, Soramoyou" puts Ran's raspy, slightly cracked vocal right out front where it can't hide, and Tomoe's drums do the real work of keeping everyone stepping in time. Moca's guitar, Himari's bass, Tsugumi's keys: nobody grandstands, and that restraint is the whole thesis. A title about the sky tying you together is almost too on the nose for the band whose entire identity is the same walk home, over and over, for years. Play it twice and it stops feeling like a franchise promo clip and starts feeling like a group photo you can hear.

A music video from the Bang Dream franchise, for Afterglow's "Tsunagu, Soramoyou."