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 // Sep 15 – Sep 21 // Sep 22 – Sep 28 // Sep 29 – Oct 5 // Oct 6 – Oct 12 // Oct 13 – Oct 19 // Oct 20 – Oct 26 // Oct 27 – Nov 2 // Nov 3 – Nov 9 // Nov 10 – Nov 16 // Nov 17 – Nov 23 // Nov 24 – Nov 30
THIS WEEK: December 1 – December 7
Ado – Episode X
This is fine but it’s not really doing anything that her other songs don’t already.
AO – Upright
Very generic rock-tinged idol pop.
Ayumu Imazu – Solo (ft. NOA & Novel Core)
This is a powerful trio. The song’s just okay but I love the beat.
BE:FIRST – Sailing
This song now has a music video. It still doesn’t do much for me.
Fantastics – Yellow Yellow
What is up with their lackluster singles this year? It’s as if they lost their spark.
Genin wa Jibun ni Aru. – Operation Ego (song of the week!)
We now have a music video for this utterly bonkers song. I have a soft spot for this one.
HiiT Factory – Escape
I’m going to keep plugging this fun retro group.
Kento Nakajima – Jealous
Kento’s solo music isn’t quite shaping into what I hoped it would be, but he remains very charismatic. The slowdowns in this song piss me off, though.
King Gnu – Nekko
This is definitely on their music’s more subdued side.
Kisaragi Maron – Veeeeeda!
This is too weird not to post. For some reason, the audio defaults to the English descriptive service for me, which is hilarious.
Koda Kumi – This Weekend
This has a warm R&B throwback vibe.
Let Me Know – Mayonaka no Taxi
I like the 80’s sound but as usual I wish they’d up the energy a bit. The chorus is nice, though!
NiziU – AlwayS
I wrote about this here. It’s okay.
Nogizaka46 – Soremadenoyuuyo
I enjoy this but I was hoping to like it more. It’s mid-tier for them.
Noisemaker -Supernatural (ft. Masato from coldrain)
I like this band a lot but this isn’t one of their stronger singles in my opinion.
ONE OK ROCK – +Matter (song of the week!)
The group just announced a new album and released this single. I really like it. Very solid anthemic rock with a great vocal performance.
One Or Eight – Kawasaki (with Big Sean)
What an utter comedown from their debut. I don’t like this at all.
Psychic Fever – SH♡TGUN (ft. Jimmy, Weesa & Pero Pero Candy)
Not my thing.
Ryubi Miyase – Shirokusomarumaeni
Seasonal but not particularly memorable.
Sandal Telephone – Fuzakenjaneyo
Meh. Not up to their usual standards.
SixTONES – The Ballers
I expected the worst from the title, but this is actually pretty good. It’s hard to tell if this YouTube version is the full song, but the hook is very sticky.
Super Eight – Life Goes On
Very much what you would expect from this style of anthemic ballad.
Takeru – To Be Like Thriller (ft. IKE, Hoshikuma Minami & 4s4ki)
This is so close to being awesome. The second verse switch up kills the momentum, though. Why are songs still doing this??
Taku Inoue – Lights Off (ft. natori)
There’s some nice tension to this.
Tempest – Bubble Gum
I wrote about this here. I didn’t like it.
Travis Japan – Bo$$y
Sigh. I guess it’s not enough to have Korean boy groups shouting at me. The Japanese have to do it now, too.
White Scorpion – I Do Love You!
This is cute but I prefer their edgier tracks.
&TEAM – Illumination
I wrote about this here. I liked it!
This week’s old favorite:
MYNAME – F.F.Y (2014)
Korean group MYNAME had a very strong (and successful) Japanese discography. This is one of their best singles. It sounds a lot like SHINee, and I mean that as the highest possible compliment.