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
THIS WEEK: September 8 – September 14
(Alexandros) – Boy Fearless
This is very 90’s. I like the mix of rap and rock. The chorus is especially good.
CNBLUE – Jinsei Sanka
CNBLUE has long since crossed over into “adult contemporary” territory for me.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE & Milk Talk – Beautiful Criminal (song of the week!)
So retro! I appreciate the chill, funky energy and those crystalline synths are gorgeous.
Haru Nemuri & Frost Children – Daijoubu Desu
The punky energy and jagged electronics are pretty fun.
Hey! Mommy! – Super Mommy Girls
This is just too strange not to share. (It’s kind of addicting, though…)
HiiT Factory – Crazy More Strange (song of the week!)
Their new EP is really fun and this is a very convincing TRF-style throwback.
HYDE – Last Song
I haven’t listened to HYDE’s new album yet but I’ve enjoyed the singles so far. This one’s much more reserved.
JO1 – Were Do We Go
A solid late-summer pop track. They’ve had stronger, they’ve had worse. The vocals are a highlight. The chorus is not.
Noisemaker – Exist
I wrote about this one before but now it has a music video.
SG – Lucid Dream
A nice rock track.
SUPER★DRAGON – Downforce
I find this group soooo hit or miss. This contains both extremes in one package. I appreciate what it’s trying to do, but there’s too little song to go along with the cool production.
TRAell – Space Dance
A nice bit of electronic indie rock.
Yojiro Noda – Pain Killer
Not necessarily what I’d expect from the singer of Radwimps, but I like the lo-fi electronic sound.
This week’s old favorite:
L’Arc～en～Ciel – Lies and Truth (1996)
Since I’ve got frontman HYDE featured as part of this week’s round-up, how about some classic 90’s rock courtesy of his band L’Arc～en～Ciel? They have a number of fantastic tracks, but this is a personal favorite from their early years.