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
BABYMETAL – Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!
This is a new version of an older track to celebrate their anniversary.
CIRRA – One-Way Runway
Do we have a new E-Girls on our hands? Only time will tell, but that prospect is very exciting and this song is a decent enough start.
Exile B Happy – Hope & Jump (ft. Crystal Kay)
I’m kind of surprised to see this unit come back for more music. The song’s fine.
GRANRODEO – Go Go Paradise!!
I love that this style of rock music is still relatively popular in Japan. The vocals are so theatrical.
HANABIE. – Iconic
“Iconic” has become a pretty cliché song title/lyric these days. This one’s not remotely iconic, but they scream and growl a lot so that’s something I guess?
Happy Fanfare – Kimiironamida (song of the week!)
This has a sweet, classic idol sound that I really enjoy. It’s not too different than early SNSD or GFriend in many ways.
Hinatazaka46 – Cliffhanger (song of the week!)
This feels a bit more propulsive than their usual fare. I quite like it, even if the song is 100% following the Sakamichi Series template without doing anything new.
jo0ji – Yoake no Uta (song of the week!)
This is very striking. I’m not sure it’s the kind of song I’ll listen to all that much, but I really enjoy its sense of drama and theatricality.
King Gnu – Aizo
Lots of energy.
ME:I – L&R
This group is going through it at the moment. You wouldn’t know it from listening to this dull mid-tempo.
Miss Mercy – BBB
I really love the high-octane instrumental on this one. I wish the vocals were stronger in places.
One Or Eight – Power
It seems like it’s always one step forward, one step back with this group. I loved their last single but this one just doesn’t work for me.
The Oral Cigarettes – Erase
A solid rocker that really fits anime (as it was designed to do!)
Ryugujo – AKKANBE
I want to love this so much but it’s just not that great. It’s not very catchy and the brass sample is annoying and doesn’t feel very much like Ryugujo at all. This is a rare miss from them.
SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] – Provant (ft. Jean-Ken Johnny & Takuma)
This is a collaboration that has created classics in the past, but all of Sawano Hiroyuki’s music kind of sounds the same now.
SHOW-WA – Tokyo Junction
Pretty much what you’d expect from them. VERY old school.
SUPER☆DRAGON – Break Off (song of the week!)
I like this a lot. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but the rock/rap combo works well and hearkens back to their roots.
TAGRIGHT – Forever Blue
This new group has some familiar members that I’m quite fond of, but I find this song painfully generic.
Yoasobi – Adrena
This has a nice punch to it. I’m not a huge fan of Yoasobi’s music, but I enjoy the energy of this song.