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 // Mar 24 – Mar 30 // Mar 31 – Apr 6 // Apr 7 – Apr 13 // Apr 14 – Apr 20 // Apr 21 – Apr 27 // Apr 28 – May 4 // May 5 – May 11 // May 12 – May 18 // May 19 – May 25 // May 26 – Jun 1 // Jun 2 – Jun 8 // Jun 9 – Jun 15 // Jun 16 – Jun 22 // Jun 23 – Jun 29 // Jun 30 – Jul 6 // Jul 7 – Jul 13 // Jul 14 – Jul 20 // Jul 21 – Jul 27 // Jul 28 – Aug 3 // Aug 4 – Aug 10 // Aug 11 – Aug 17
THIS WEEK: August 18 – August 24
A.B.C-Z – I Want To Wake Up Next To You
This sounds much more in line with the classic Starto Entertainment sound than what most of its artists are churning out lately. It’s okay.
Atarashii Gakko! – Change
Fans will like it.
Exile B Happy – Guru Guru Dream
I didn’t realize this unit would be releasing more music. This is sweet and energetic.
Genic – Sorry Not Sorry
I like this better than LiFE!!, but it kind of sounds like they took the template from Flavor and stripped away all the things that made that song awesome. AVEX really needs to let them write their own material. Most of their best stuff is self-produced.
Hey! Say! JUMP – UMP
It’s been awhile since I’ve connected to one of their singles, but this one’s quite nice. The arrangement is very energetic and theatrical and fits them well. It’s reminiscent of their older work yet also feels more mature.
Hinatazaka46 – Zettaiteki Dairokkan
This is an above average version of their general sound. Not surprising, but very nice.
iScream – Jelly Fish
Dull verses, strong chorus. Fans of K-pop girl groups will probably like it.
Kenshi Yonezu – Garakuta Junk
So many of his songs sound similar to me. Oh well, he’s incredibly popular.
Lienel – Gira-Summer
This is fun but a bit chaotic.
Mrs. Green Apple – Familie
We’ve got a music video for this single now. It still doesn’t do much for me.
NEXZ – Keep On Moving
I wrote about this here. I liked it.
Noisemaker – Exist
I really like this band. This is a good “pump you up” type rock song.
Novelbright × Eric Nam – Everywhere I Go
I can’t say I had this collaboration on my 2024 bingo card. The song is fine, but sounds more like a solo Eric Nam track than a melding of two different artists.
Number_i – INZM (song of the week!)
I haven’t been an admirer of Number_i’s musical direction at all, but the distortion and overall chaos of this track might win me over. I wish the song was as compelling as the production, but I’m still finding myself oddly fascinated with it.
(If someone watched this immediately after 2018’s Cinderella Girl, they’d be so shocked…)
Pop Art Town – Asayake to Emerald
I don’t know anything about this group, but the sound of this new track caught my ear.
Rebecca – Daisy Chain
The 80’s legends are back with their first new song in seven years! It almost sounds as if it could have been recorded at their peak.
Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku – Irohani Odoryanse
Solid idol track.
SKE48 – Kokuhaku Shinpakusu
This is my favorite sound from this kind of group: driving beat, optimistic energy and powerful melodies.
Snow Man – Empire (song of the week!)
Though it’s heavily carried by its classical sample (which only reminds me of ToppDogg’s Topdog), I actually like this a lot and it’s growing more addictive as time goes on. The dramatic heft of the chorus is super satisfying. This is easily their best track of 2024.
STAYC – Meow
I wrote about this here. I didn’t care for it.
Superfly – Charade
This starts out slow but grows into something quite massive. I love her voice.
Takanori Nishikawa (T.M.Revolution) – Koibitotachi no Pavement
This is a song cover taken from a tribute album to legendary band The Alfee, but you know I’m going to take the opportunity to feature any new music from Takanori Nishikawa. He has of my favorite voices ever and this is gorgeous.
Yuma Uchida – Chemi-story
This has a nice anthemic sound.
This week’s old favorite:
On/Off – Hajimarunoha Sayonara (2011)
Not to be confused with the similarly-named K-pop group, On/Off is a pair of twin brothers who’ve done a fair amount of anison work. This track’s a major highlight for me because it’s composed by personal favorite producer Daisuke Asakura. The rest of their music’s pretty hit or miss, though they do have another Asakura-produced track.