In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I'm planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in what's new in J-pop.
With that in mind, here's where you come in: I'm one person with one set of musical preferences, so please embed any other new J-pop tracks you've enjoyed in the comments so we can get a fuller spectrum each week.
*And just like I do with my reviews, I'll wait until full versions of songs are available before posting them in this round-up. This will mostly apply to Johnny's groups, who still limit the majority of their YouTube uploads to shorter, edited versions.
THIS WEEK: Feb 4 - Feb 10
Aina The End – Treasure
I have a feeling Red:birthmark may be a one-off, but this isn't half-bad either. Definitely more subdued.
Ako – Planet
Quirky and a little otherworldly in a good way.
Back-On x Flow – CHEMYxSTORY
I like the mix of punk and rap. It's a very powerful sound.
Billlie – Domino (Butterfly Effect)
I wrote about this here. I liked it!
BUDDiiS – JUBiiLEE
I want to be a big fan of this group and keep waiting for them to wow me. This isn't the song that will do it, unfortunately.
GOODM!X – Come On, Mix!
Fluffy girl group J-pop. It's pretty much what you'd expect.
INI – Legit
Sigh. They were on such a roll, but this feels like a step back.
Lil' League – Lollipop
I'm not a big fan of Exile Tribe's new gen groups, which is a shame. This is better than I expected, but I'm not sure about that interpolation.
Masayoshi Oishi – Electric Parade
I loved his Uni-verse from last year, but there's too much mugging going on in this vocal performance for me. I like the chorus, though.
MindaRyn – Third Party
I love the contrast between the bright vocals and heavy backing track. This is anthemic in all the right ways.
NiziU – Memories
As expected, this is very "JYP girl group." It sounds like a Twice b-side, which isn't a bad thing.
Philosophy no Dance – Go Survive
Funky and upbeat. I like it!
ReLit – Chocolate
They released one of my favorite songs of last year. This is... very much not that.
Sakurazaka46 – Aburawosase!
The brass is an interesting touch to their sound, but other than that this feels pretty standard for them.
Tatsuya Ueda – Girisuto!
Eh... not really feeling his new solo songs, to me honest.
Takane No Nadeshiko – Watashi wa Kaibutsu
Still nowhere near their best work, but the jazzy sound fits them well.
The Telephones – Danger Boy (song of the week!)
The vocals have a very indie-rock approach, but I love that exciting dance instrumental.
Touken Danshi Daihensei Suehirogari2023 - Hajime No Kaze
I always keep a sneaky eye on the Touken Danshi music releases because they're often quite good.
Watwing – Shine
I like this better in theory than execution.
Wednesday Campanella – Ghost and Writer
They're very hit or miss for me. This leans closer to "hit," but I'm not quite sure yet.
White Scorpion – Hijoushudan (song of the week!)
Another strong song from this new group. It's not perfect, but the chorus kind of slaps. It's probably their best track yet.
Yena – DNA
I wrote about this here. I thought it was okay.
This week's old favorite:
HIM - Aquarius (1995)
One of the many mixed-gender dance projects of the 90's. If you like TRF, you'll love this!
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