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 // 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
THIS WEEK: April 6 – April 12
Ado – Rockstar
This seems like a very fitting title for Ado! I like the guitar riffs but wish this was a bit more explosive overall. She really attacks it, though.
ANGERME – Andoroido wa yumewomiru ka?
This has a great, classic Hello Project style chorus.
AsIs – Kimi no suki o hitei nanka shinai (song of the week!)
This is a great example of this style of surging girl group idol pop. It could be a bit more unique, but I like their voices and the instrumental has great drive.
Ayumi Hamasaki – Mimosa
Perfectly pleasant but very far from a discography standout.
cosmosy – Lucky=One
This is a nice throwback to a late-2010’s tropical sound. The song doesn’t really go anywhere, though.
DISH// – Fashion★Star
A catchy track by this popular rock group.
Generations – Two Steps Back (song of the week!)
Early-2000’s Neptunes-esque production is very much in trend, isn’t it? This has a lot of groove. I like it! The old-fashioned city-pop visuals are really throwing me off, though. Two completely different eras!
Hi-Fi Un!corn – Beat It! Beat It!
That title was always going to invite comparisons to the Michael Jackson classic, which is a much too wide shadow to crawl out from. I wish this leaned further into its electronic/dance elements. It’s decent but a bit unfocused.
Hoshimachi Suisei – I Don’t Care
This has great, bouncy energy during its uptempo parts.
IMP. – Cheek To Cheek
Within their discography, this is mid-tier. It’s not bad, but it’s also not doing much for me.
Kento Nakajima – Montage (song of the week!)
It seems like everyone’s working with producer Hiroyuki Sawano nowadays. He has such an identifiable style I was able to guess this was his work even before looking up the credits. Anyway, it’s probably the best of Kento’s solo singles yet. This is a smart pairing for him and although the track sounds quite familiar it works very well.
Kep1er – Yum (song of the week!)
I wrote about this here. The chorus is just brilliant and everything else is growing on me.
MAZZEL – King Kila Game
The verses have tons of potential but the “chorus” is godawful. Like… truly obnoxious. When will we be freed from this style of boy group track??
NMB48 – Chu Strike
I wrote about this a couple weeks ago and now it has an mv. I still enjoy the energy and the chorus is strong.
Queen Bee – High Flame (song of the week!)
I wrote about this last week and now it has an mv. It’s not one of the band’s best, but I still like it quite a bit.
SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] – Inertia (ft. Rei) (song of the week!)
Remember how I said that producer Hiroyuki Sawano is incredibly busy right now? Well, here’s another new song by him. This might actually be better than the Kento Nakajima track.
The Sixth Lie – Scramble Line (ft.Akira Takano) (song of the week!)
A song like this is why I still dig through so much mediocre material each week. Every once and awhile, you find buried treasure. I know nothing about this group, but I like this very much. A great blend of rock and electro with an awesome chorus!
The Super Fruit – Daibu Diversity
Not my thing at all.
T.N.T – Leap Of Faith (song of the week!)
Though XY hasn’t actually released any new group music, they’re still churning out side projects. T.N.T is an offshoot of their rock group and with their new EP they’ve already released more music than the main group they spawn from. Super weird. It’s a good thing these songs are very solid.
TXT – Rise
A very typical J-rock anime track.
World Order – Neo Samurai
I had no idea World Order were still putting out music! I wish this had more vocals.
XG – In The Rain
I wrote about this here. I thought it was pretty dull.
This week’s old favorite:
Snow Man – Party! Party! Party! (2021)
Snow Man released a large chunk of their material on streaming this week, so I’ll take this chance to spotlight one of my favorite album tracks that was previously unavailable. You can’t beat this chorus… especially if you have a soft spot for early-2010’s EDM.