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 // Mar 10 – Mar 16 // Mar 17 – Mar 23
THIS WEEK: Mar 24 – Mar 30
Ballistik Boyz – Meant to be (ft. F.Hero & Boom Boom Cash)
Decent blend of rock, EDM and hip-hop. Needs a stronger hook, though.
BEYOOOOONDS – Hai to Diamond
This is my favorite BEYOOOOONDS song in awhile. They’re at their best when super energetic and upbeat. Very fun!
Hinatazaka46 – Kimi ha Honeydew
Bright and cheerful, but not one of their stronger melodies.
Inaba Manaka – Pink Temperature (song of the week!)
I like this one very much. Great electro energy and sleek melodies. Her song from a few weeks ago is also very good and I’m sad I missed it initially. This is a very promising solo debut!
JO1 – Happy Unbirthday
It’s really nice to hear them play with funk influences again. I love the beat, but the lackluster chorus disappoints.
Mai Ozeki – Namida no Tomorrow
This is the week of solo Hello Project debuts, I guess. I really love that funky electro beat. This is a great blend of the old and the new.
ME:I – Click
I wrote about this here. I thought it was alright.
Naniwa Danshi – New Classic
Okay, this opens with the same Vivaldi interpolation as The Wind’s H! Teen, which is a little funny. It goes on to become a more quintessentially Naniwa Danshi track, which is fine. I like the orchestral influences. They should have leaned even harder into that.
OMW – Fantasy Express (ft. Jay’ed, P-Cho & NAOtheLAIZA)
A laid back, funky groove perfect for the oncoming summer season. The vocals are so smooth. I can see myself playing this a lot.
Reol – Want U Love It
This song from last week now has an animated music video. It’s still great.
Ryubi Miyase – Candy
Sprightly and very spring-like.
The Telephones – Our Journey (song of the week!)
This is so fun. It reminds me of the quirky Nordic electropop I used to love in the mid-00’s. There’s not much to the song, but that drop is incredible.
This week’s old favorite:
m.o.v.e – Future Breeze (2002)
m.o.v.e have a lot of great music worth exploring, especially if you like dance, techno and eurobeat. For some reason, this one has always felt like an ancestor of Infinite’s The Chaser — especially those trumpeting synths after the first chorus.