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 // Feb 9 – Feb 15
THIS WEEK: February 16 – February 22
Ayumu Imazu – Thrifted
A “vibe,” as they say. It’s a bit too laidback for me.
BACK-ON – Graduations
Kamen Rider tracks are always a lot of fun.
Benny – WOAH
After a very cool intro this quickly becomes the kind of song I hate. The chorus is dreadful.
BXB – I Wish
This feels like it could have been TWS’s “hey! hey!” but ends up being more “meh meh.”
edhiii boi – I Don’t Wanna Grow Up
I like the punky energy of this.
Exile Takahiro – Evolution
This sounds very classic Exile, which is a comforting thing.
imase – Friends!!!
I honestly don’t get the fuss around this music.
LiSA – ReawakeR (ft. Felix of Stray Kids)
I wrote about this here. I thought it was alright.
MAZZEL – J.O.K.E.R.
Better than most of their recent work, but still pretty dull.
M!LK – E Jan
A weird hybrid of sparkly idol pop and dull club drop. The two don’t mesh at all.
Naniwa Danshi – Don’t Worry!!
I swear they just keep releasing the same song over and over.
ONE OK ROCK – Tropical Therapy
They definitely released the new album’s best three songs as pre-releases first, but this new single is also pretty solid.
OWV – Supernova
I could hear this particular boy group sound pretty much anywhere.
Queen Bee – Purple
Queen Bee occasionally churn out an emotional mid-tempo like this (my favorite is definitely 2017’s Outroduction). Unfortunately, the melodies here just aren’t hitting me. Maybe the song will grow with time.
Ryokuoushoku Shakai – Player 1 (song of the week!)
The best Ryokuoushoku Shakai song in quite awhile. I love the energy and guitar riff. The chorus could be a bit stronger, though.
Sakanaction – Kaiju
A catchy toe-tapper.
Sakurazaka46 – Nightmare Shoukougun
I appreciate them changing up their sound a bit, but this doesn’t really work for me. It’s just too plodding.
SKE48 – Tick Tack Zack
There’s a fullness missing in the instrumental and arrangement. A song like this needs to absolutely explode and this one never does.
Super Beaver – Namida no Syotai
A solid rock track.
Vaundy – Run Sakamoto Run
I wrote about this a few weeks ago but now it has an mv.
WATWING – Memories
Funky and fun but not particularly unique.
This week’s old favorite:
Eiji Hino (Shu Watanabe) & Ankh (Ryosuke Miura) – Time Judged All (2014)
Exhibit B in “Kamen Rider music is generally awesome.”