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 Starto 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 // Feb 23 – Mar 1 // Mar 2 – Mar 8 // Mar 9 – Mar 15 // Mar 16 – Mar 22 // Mar 23 – Mar 29 // Mar 30 – Apr 5 // Apr 6 – Apr 12 // Apr 13 – Apr 19 // Apr 20 – Apr 26 // Apr 27 – May 3 // May 4 – May 10 // May 11 – May 16 // May 17 – May 24 // May 25 – May 31
THIS WEEK: June 1 – June 7
aoen – The Blue Sun (song of the week!)
I wrote about this here. I liked it!
Ando Tomoaki (ORβIT) – Melting Rain
Moody and boring.
BUDDiiS – LÖVE ME
Generic summer boy group pop. I guess it works in a pinch, but I hate the needless tempo shifts.
Generations – Magic Hour
This mid-tempo trap sound with auto-tuned vocals is not my thing at all.
GINTA & misono – TORICO (song of the week!)
I can’t tell if this is awesome or horrible, but I’m digging the energy. At least it has a pulse!
INI – Dominance
Gosh, their music is just circling the drain. What happened?? I hate this kind of boy group song. It’s just a bunch of empty bluster.
lol – Ever After
I assume this is their disbandment song. It sounds like one, which is to be expected.
May’n – The SEA Has Dreams
She was recently on this weirdly addictive Chinese show “Sing! Asia” but sadly didn’t do that well with the judges. This song has nice energy and an optimistic tone.
Mrs. Green Apple – Breakfast
This is probably the closest we’ve gotten to the upbeat Magic since 2023 but the song is not nearly as strong, unfortunately.
Naniwa Danshi – Gira Gira Summer
A little of this sound goes a long way. In this case, it’s all a little annoying.
News – Chankapana (English Version)
Does anyone actually prefer/listen to English versions of established J-pop tracks? I certainly didn’t need an English version of this classic and can barely make out the lyrics anyway.
NMB48 – Kibô Ressha
A pretty standard-sounding 48 track. Nothing really sticks out to me.
One Love One Heart – Hoshi no shōmei
Certainly not one of their stronger singles (it’s very J-pop by the numbers), but I’ll always be happy to hear more from this group.
PG – Konnichiwa!
It’s cute, I guess.
The Sixth Lie – Are You There? (ft. Nagi)
This is so short, but I really like the sound and pounding intensity.
SixTONES – Boyz
Not the strongest thing I’ve heard from them, but I’m glad to have another straight-ahead rock banger.
STAYC – Lover, Killer
I find this a bit flat. The melodies don’t have much punch or hookiness.
Travis Japan – Burning Love
An Elvis Presley cover for a Lilo & Stitch soundtrack sung by a Starto group? That’s a wild combination and this is harmless fluff.
TWS – Bloom (ft. Ayumu Imazu) (song of the week!)
I wrote about this here. I liked it and it’s an easy highlight of the week.
Yuko Suzuhana – Kesara Basara (song of the week!)
This is kind of delightful. You only get this kind of stuff in Japan!
This week’s old favorite:
Stereo Dive Foundation – Storyseeker (2021)
I absolutely love Stereo Dive Foundation’s music, and this might just be my favorite. The chorus is so massive and joyful.