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.
2023-2024 Index
2025 Index: Dec 29 – Jan 11 // Jan 12 – Jan 18 // Jan 19 – Jan 25 // Jan 26 – Feb 1 // Feb 2 – Feb 8 // Feb 9 – Feb 15 // Feb 16 – Feb 22
THIS WEEK: February 23 – March 1
=LOVE – Tyoutokkyuu Tousoutyuu
Very standard chirpy girly idol pop if that’s your thing.
ICEx – Utopia (song of the week!)
I wrote about this song weeks ago and now it has an mv. It’s still one of their best tracks. I love the synths.
imase – Friends!!!
I wrote about this last week and now it has an mv.
IS:SUE – Love Myself
I like this better than their last song, but it’s still very generic.
Kyosuke Fujimaki (INI) – Pay Back
Kyosuke was the member I most supported on Produce 101 so it’s nice to hear him get a solo. The song is just okay but his voice is fantastic and it’s nice to hear something that’s not a ballad.
L.E.I. – Delete
The Rampage’s Kawamura Kazuma makes his solo rap debut. The song’s fine but not my thing at all.
LEØNAGE – Never Go Back
Decent but very generic.
Little Glee Monster – For Decades
They’re good at this uplifting, inspirational sound.
MYERA – Busy
The song isn’t quite there for me yet (it needs an actual chorus), but I hear a lot of potential. The brassy sound reminds me of mid-2010’s girl groups.
One N’ Only – Map Of The Mind
This kind of surging anthem is right up my alley, though I’ve heard much stronger.
Ooochie Koochie – Gold
The group name is more entertaining than the song.
Queen Bee – Purple
I wrote about this last week and now it has a music video. Unfortunately, it’s still not doing much for me.
Re:name – Baby Boy
Kind of chill and anthemic at the same time, weirdly. The heavy vocal warping actually works well here.
Royal Novice – Laugh Away
It’s certainly perky!
Sandaime J Soul Brothers – What Is Your Secret?
A slow burn mid-tempo for those who like that kind of thing.
SKY-HI – It’s OK
This feels more like a showcase of skill than an engaging song on its own.
SUPER★DRAGON – Dreamland
Boilerplate boy group material.
Timelesz – Rock This Party
I’m curious how they’ll fare as an eight-member group. This is not the strongest start, but I’ll try to remain optimistic. If nothing else, their digital compilation this week finally made the 10-out-of-10 classic Run available on streaming (see below)!
TM Network – Carry On The Memories
The J-pop legends return with a nostalgic ballad-with-a-beat.
UN1CON – Jump
This sounds a lot like K-pop. The chorus is like a bad version of House Of Pain’s Jump Around (which is already kind of a bad version of itself).
w-inds. – Who’s The Liar
I really like the beat but I wish the song was stronger and more melodic.
zenbukiminoseida. – Coyubi
I’ve never heard of this group before but this has potential. It looks like they’ve got quite a big catalog, too.
This week’s old favorite:
Sexy Zone/timelesz – Run (2020)
It took nearly five years, but the song of the decade is finally available on streaming!