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 // Jun 1 – Jun 7 // Jun 8 – Jun 14 // Jun 15 – Jun 21 // Jun 22 – Jun 28 // Jun 29 – Jul 5 // Jul 6 – Jul 12 // Jul 13 – Jul 19 // Jul 20 – Jul 26 // Jul 27 – Aug 2 // Aug 3 – Aug 9 // Aug 10 – Aug 16 // Aug 17 – Aug 23 // Aug 24 – Aug 30 // Aug 31 – Sep 6 // Sep 7 – Sep 13 // Sep 14 – Sep 20 // Sep 21 – Sep 27
THIS WEEK: September 28 – October 4
＝LOVE – Queens
I like the chorus. The rest, not so much.
Fantastics – Pop Life
Judging from the title, I think I was hoping for something different. This is fine but a bit too happy clappy for me.
Hiroyuki Sawano x SennaRin – Avid
Much softer and more subdued than I was expecting.
i-dle – Where Do We Go (song of the week!)
I wrote about this here. I liked it!
iScream – Better Off
It’s decently jaunty.
JO1 – Handz In My Pocket
I wrote about this last week but now it has an mv. It still does nothing for me.
Kento Nakajima – IDOLIC
I like the concept of this, but as with most of his solo work it’s just not quite there for me. That’s a shame because he’s such a star.
Man With A Mission – Against The Kings And Gods
Their music is always good. This isn’t among their best, but it’s a solid rock track.
Mrs. Green Apple – Good Day
I wrote about this last week but now it has an mv. It’s every bit as “bad children’s movie” as you’d expect.
Onew – Hana no Yoni
Pretty but rather unmemorable.
OWV – Black Crown
The clanging sounds that open this track give me an instant pit in my stomach. A not-very-great song is surely on its way!
Yoasobi – Gekijyo
Sounds pretty much like a Yoasobi song. They’ve done better, they’ve done worse. The energy is great, though.
Zipang Opera – Ambition
It’s nice when a song called “Ambition” actually sounds ambitious. I love the operatic intro to this. I wish the rest of the song had more heft to it, but there are moments of drama that really work and when it finally reaches the chorus (after two minutes!) we’re all good.