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.
2023 Index
2024 Index: Dec 24 – Jan 6 // Jan 7 – Jan 13 // Jan 14 – Jan 20 // Jan 21 – Jan 27 // Jan 28 – Feb 3 // Feb 4 – Feb 10 // Feb 11 – Feb 17 // Feb 18 – Feb 24 // Feb 25 – Mar 2 // Mar 3 – Mar 9
THIS WEEK: Mar 10 – Mar 16
AKB48 U-20 Senbatsu – Hoshi ga Kienai Uchi ni
I like the chorus, but the song takes too long to get there.
AI – Whatever
I enjoy how uplifting this is.
B.I – Wish You Were Here
I loved his Korean album last year. His Japanese stuff hasn’t really caught my attention in the same way.
Fudanjuku – Beast Lollipop
This group fascinates me but this song does not.
Genin Wa Jibun Ni Aru – Keikakudori
This is my favorite track from their just-released EP. I love the rhythmic rock sound.
Hiromitsu Kitayama – NE:Ø Era (song of the week!)
I wrote about this standout b-side here. I absolutely love it.
May J. – Burn
This has a nice r&b dance sound.
Mika Nakashima – Mission
A very standard anime rock style, but it’s solid.
NiziU – Sweet Nonfiction
I wrote about this here. I liked it!
NOA – YBOM (You’ve Been On My Mind)
I’ve really enjoyed some of NOA’s past work, but find this one boring.
Ryugujo – Deep Wave EP (songs of the week!)
I wrote a track-by-track review of this EP here. I absolutely adore it and it’s easily my favorite project of 2024 so far.
Shinjiro Atae – Fun Forever (song of the week!)
This is so much better than his last track. In fact, it’s probably his best solo single yet. It has a great upbeat new jack swing groove and hooky chorus.
WEST. – Award / Reward / Fiction / Fate
Fans of WEST. had a lot on their plate this week. Not only did they release their greatest hits album with new material and several new mvs, but they also premiered the full video for upcoming single Fate. Of these four tracks, I like Reward and Fiction best. The former reminds me of News and the latter reminds me of Arashi, which is kind of funny since this release is meant to celebrate WEST.’s career!
Yurina Hirate – Goddess Of Despair
I was so excited to see a (rare) new Yurina Hirate track, and I enjoy the drama of this. However, the vocal and instrumental seem like they’re from two different songs.
This week’s old favorite:
Ryosuke Miura – Escape (2013)
When it comes to J-pop/K-pop, this ultra-bombastic dance-meets-rock sound of the early 2010’s is one of my biggest touchstones, and this is a little-known gem from the era.