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
THIS WEEK: February 9 – February 15
Ano – Just The Two Of Us In This World
It’ll likely appeal to her fans. It’s a bit too subdued for me.
ASCA – Never Let It Go
She always brings the drama. This one takes a bit to get going but ends in a satisfying place.
Boyfriend – Time Limit
I wrote about this here. I thought it was okay.
CRAVITY – Jelly Bean
Pretty much a continuation of a couple of their lighter, brighter K-pop singles. It’s not as memorable, though.
Eunhyuk – Like This / Attention / E-M-O (song of the week!)
Like This does nothing for me but I am giving b-sides Attention and E-M-O “song of the week” status because they’re pretty great! I should hate everything about Attention, but I love the guitar-fueled beat and stupid hook. Meanwhile, E-M-O‘s funk disco sound is right up my alley.
Fruits Zipper – Click The Like
This group is getting pretty big and I really should feature them more often. The cutesy sound isn’t really for me, but this is pleasant enough.
HANA – Drop
I wrote about this last week but now it has a music video. It’s still not for me.
ILLIT – Almond Chocolate
I wrote about this here. I thought it was okay.
INI – Breath
The other unit song (Howlin’) is awful but this isn’t bad.
Ken Miyake – Taxi
This new material fits his unique voice but I find this style of music quite dull.
Nogizaka46 – Natsukasisanosaki
Quite pretty, but they have so many songs like this that are better.
Psychic Fever – Wonder Woman
It seems like they’re just releasing new music every week!
The Rampage – Burn
One of these days I’ll love The Rampage’s music again. Remember how awesome their songs used to be? This is just noisy and unpleasant and predictable.
Ryosuke Yamada – Snow Moon
He’s got a full album on the way. I really hope I end up liking some of the music because this is the second strikeout for me. It’s just not that interesting as a song.
Sakurazaka46 – Nothing Special
This song opens with a ton of promise but its energy level kind of stays stagnant throughout. I really like the costumes, though!
Sato Triplets – Change My Life
You don’t see a pop group made of triplets very often! That’s all I’ve got for this one.
SixTONES – Banger
It’ll be a banger for many. It kinda goes in one ear and out the other for me.
WEST. – Shhhhhhh!!
Another Starto song I won’t remember in a week’s time.
This week’s old favorite:
KAT-TUN – Believe In Myself (2014)
With KAT-TUN’s impending disbandment (Noooooo!!!), Starto must put their full catalog on streaming so their music endures. They were one of the groups who got me into J-pop in the first place and I genuinely adore a huge chunk of their discography. Here’s a personal highlight from the mid-2010’s. The filtered guitar riffs are pure catnip to my ears.