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.
2023-2025 Index
2026 Index: Dec 28 – Jan 3 // Jan 4 – Jan 10 // Jan 11 – Jan 17 // Jan 18 – Jan 24 // Jan 25 – Jan 31 // Feb 1 – Feb 7 // Feb 8 – Feb 14 // Feb 15 – Feb 21 // Feb 22 – Feb 28 // Mar 1 – Mar 7 // Mar 8 – Mar 14 // Mar 15 – Mar 21 // Mar 22 – Mar 28 // Mar 29 – Apr 4 // Apr 5 – Apr 11
THIS WEEK: April 12 – April 17
ano – Love Dinner
Very much in her usual wheelhouse. Not for me, but others will love it.
aoen – Youth
A pretty typical anime rock track, but I like this direction for them.
ASH DA HERO – Believers
A big, clobbering rock track.
ClariS – Revive
This is much more rock-oriented than I expected from them.
cosmosy – Silence ~ body & soul ~
They’ve been skirting the line between Japanese and Korean promotions, making it difficult to slot them into one market or the other. This one’s a mix of English, Japanese and Korean. Too bad the song wasn’t better.
DISH// – Hero
They released a couple of videos for this new single. The song is nice, but nothing special.
Exile – 24karats Gold Legacy (ft. Takahiro Matsumoto)
This has the bombast I’d expect from Exile. Sadly, the melodies aren’t doing much for me this time.
HiiT Factory – She Doesn’t Mind
Our favorite 90s J-pop revivalists have a new full album out this week. I prefer their dancier stuff (like album track Twilight!) to this kind of new jack swing influenced pop, but this is still nice.
Hyde – Die Happily
His vocal is so good. The song is too sleepy for me.
IMP. – Invader
I just don’t understand why songs like this must have such slow, plodding passages in between the energy. Totally takes me out of the experience. The chorus is awful, too.
Kazuya Kamenashi – Diamond
I’ll always love him, but this song isn’t doing much for me.
The Lethal Weapons – Let’s Go Hanafuda
Fun, silly 80s-style synthpop — as usual from these guys.
ME:I – Update ME
A perfectly solid upbeat girl group track. The chorus is the best part and it repeats often.
Mrs. Green Apple – Wind And Town
Japan’s biggest band is back with another very characteristic song. I’m no longer their target audience, but this is the side of their music I tend to prefer.
muque – Good Luck, Have Fun
I really like the driving energy of this.
Official HIGE DANdism – Stardust (song of the week!)
The chorus of this is fantastic and so catchy. It’s also incredibly cinematic, which tends to appeal to me. I can see myself playing this a lot when I’m in the mood for big, anthemic rock. His vocals are out of this world.
@onefive – Kakumei GirlS
Pretty cute.
The Rampage – Black Tokyo (song of the week!)
This has parts I love and parts that dull the experience. Overall, the “love” parts win pretty easily.
RIIZE – Kill Shot
I like this sound even if I’m not sure what I think of the song itself.
Snow Man – Save Your Heart (song of the week!)
Finally, another straight-up club song from them! They’ve definitely had better in this vein, but I appreciate the energy. I also appreciate how this (mostly) sounds like pre-Starto Johnnys.
Tatsuya Kitani – HIDANE (Dancing Ember)
Oh wow, I love this instrumental. It’s so refreshing to hear something completely different. The song isn’t as exciting, but the production is very fun.
White Scorpion – 7 Byou no Resistance (song of the week!)
I’ve been enjoying this group since debut and this is another strong single from them. I love how they inject electronic touches to their music.
Zipang Opera – Rainy Heart
Pretty dull.
&TEAM – We On Fire
I wrote about this here. I found it very disappointing by their standards. It’s got some good b-sides, though. Hopefully one of them will be promoted with a music video.
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