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
Ae! group – Fashion Killa♡
I like that this feels a bit different for them.
AsIs – outline. (song of the week!)
I missed this last week but want to make sure to post it because I enjoy it enough to make it a song of the week. I’d recommend this to GFriend fans.
Crimson Crat Clan – Melkiss
This group’s name has always stood out to me (it’s so weird) but the music is comparatively tame.
Genki Iwahashi – Dangerous Key
He’s actually more convincing as a rocker than I would have thought.
Girls² – Melty Love
Not feeling the vocals on this one.
Hinata Kashiwagi – BBB (song of the week!)
Ooh, this is pretty interesting! As you all know, I’m not much for shouted choruses, but this one caught me right away.
ISSEI – Perfect (ft. SKRYU) (song of the week!)
It feels like spring has come early with this song. I love the upbeat energy. The verses are a bit messy but the chorus is fun.
Keiichiro Koyama – Play Back
Not the News member I would have expected to release solo music, but I like the general sound of this. It’s upbeat and fun.
Kento Nakajima – Gods’ Play (ft. Naomi Watanabe)
But… I want an mv for Kesshou instead! This song’s pretty meh for me. I wish it had more melody.
Kis-My-Ft2 – Unison
A fairly predictable ballad from them. Nice, but not particularly impactful.
M!LK – Bakuretsu Aishiteru
It’s been weird watching this group, who I have been following for about a decade now, suddenly make it big with music I don’t particularly care for. I’m very happy for them. I wish I liked the songs more than I do.
≒JOY – Ai ga itakatta
The chorus is quite nice.
OWV – Start Dash
A fun, upbeat boy group track.
Perfume – Fumetsu no anata
I wrote about this back in December but now it has a visual. I still think the song is pretty underwhelming.
PIGGS – Hallo Alien
Not nearly as good as their single last month, but I like the punky energy.
Porno Graffitti – Desperado
The guitar riff after each chorus is the best part.
RIIZE – All Of You
I think there will be a music video later so I’ll write about the song then. I’m not impressed by the music, though.
Sakanaction – Iranai
This is incredibly catchy. Almost maddeningly so.
https://open.spotify.com/track/4b4rwXmVgXV8AnVZRJPt32?si=62a385e60acd4c6d
Sakurazaka46 – The Growing Up Train
This feels weirdly restrained for them. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it either.
SixTONES – Rebellion
This is more in line with what I enjoy from them and echoes their debut era. It’s a solid rock track, but they’ve had better.
STAYC – MWUAH
I wrote about this here. I thought it was decent.
SUPER★DRAGON – Break Off (song of the week!)
I wrote about this at the start of the year and I’m glad it finally got a video. I like the song a lot. It echoes the rock sound of their earlier work. And, I’ve really been enjoying member Tanaka Koki’s over-the-top performance in the drama Kateikyoshi no Kishi Knight desu, so that’s been an unexpected entry point to the group for me.
Takanori Nishikawa – Ignis
A perfectly solid Nishikawa single, but I wish he’d go back to making bangers as T.M.Revolution because the new stuff just doesn’t have the same effect.
TVXQ – Identity
Feels a bit fuddy duddy, to be honest.