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 // Aug 18 – Aug 24 // Aug 25 – Aug 31 // Sep 1 – Sep 7 // Sep 8 – Sep 14
THIS WEEK: September 15 – September 21
(alexandros) – Backseat
Solid track, but I prefer the one from last week.
AMEFURASSHI – Flora
Fans of current K-pop girl group trends will probably like this.
BMSG GAIA – Glitch
These next few tracks are from a mix of artists (and trainees?) under SKY-HI’s agency. This one’s a blend of hip-hop and rock. It’s okay.
BMSG MARINE – Memoria
This one’s a more melodic, vocal-focused take on synth pop. It’s my favorite of the three, even if some of the vocal effects are very off-putting.
BMSG SKY – Swan’s War
This one’s kind of typical hip-hip EDM. It’s not really my thing.
BUDDiiS – Ütopia
Fun and upbeat but something’s not hitting here.
Dannie May – Magic Shower
Perfectly solid indie rock.
Glay – Brighten Up
I don’t really follow Glay, but it seems like it’s been awhile since they’ve released new music. This is a solid rock track. Very timeless.
HiiT Factory – Fifth Element
They keep on churning out mvs for their new EP so I’m going to keep on featuring them. This isn’t my favorite from Nova but its 90’s dance beat is still a lot of fun.
Kamigata Boyz – Sekai wo Akaruku Terashimashow
This supergroup just isn’t for me despite the fact that I like all the individual groups participating.
KJRGL – Overture ~ The Blue Wave
I wrote about this here. I thought it was okay.
The Lethal Weapons – Krazy Doctor
I admire how they just always go full speed ahead on this cheesy 80’s dance rock.
NAQT VANE – Fallout (song of the week!)
I wrote about this already, but now it has a music video. It’s still great!
One Love One Heart – Bokura no Road Movie
This has been out for awhile but now it has a music video and will apparently be the OST for the group’s upcoming web drama. The song has grown on me a lot, even though I wish they’d go back to releasing more upbeat material.
OrβIT – Patience
Meh. Sounds like bad K-pop.
Qwami – Never Stop (song of the week!)
Thank you YouTube for recommending this song to me because I love it! This old-school electro funk sound is so much fun. I hope he continues to make music in this style.
Reol – Ultra C
Reol and TeddyLoid make a very interesting combination. This is a bit messy in places, but overall I like it.
Ryokuoushoku Shakai – Bokurawa Ikimonodakara
Romanized Japanese looks so freaking long, doesn’t it? This song is very nice, though I doubt I’ll seek it out again.
Sato Masaki – Arashi no Number
I love her voice and there are parts of this song that remind me of second-gen K-pop in the best way.
Trigger – Escape From Now
Trigger are one of the few animated groups I feature in these posts due to their popularity and the fact they have a few songs I really like. This new one’s a mixed bag, though.
XY – Diamonds
This isn’t released yet beyond the dance practice video, but I continue to feel this group is squandering their potential with weak material. This is very underwhelming.
This week’s old favorite:
News – Akaku Moyuru Taiyo (2004)
Just in case you missed it, I celebrated the release of News’ discography on streaming by blitzing through their singles run last week. The agency is also uploading their old mvs one by one. These early ones have never been released commercially and are like a holy grail for me. I’m so happy to replace my super low quality TV rips! As I joked on twitter, Akaku Moyuru Taiyo is a personal favorite because of its campiness. It was filmed in 2004 but looks like it was filmed in 1978! The song is fantastic, too.