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.

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2023 Index

2024 Index: Dec 24 – Jan 6 // Jan 7 – Jan 13 // Jan 14 – Jan 20 // Jan 21 – Jan 27 // Jan 28 – Feb 3 // Feb 4 – Feb 10 // Feb 11 – Feb 17 // Feb 18 – Feb 24 // Feb 25 – Mar 2 // Mar 3 – Mar 9 // Mar 10 – Mar 16 // Mar 17 – Mar 23 // Mar 24 – Mar 30 // Mar 31 – Apr 6 // Apr 7 – Apr 13 // Apr 14 – Apr 20 // Apr 21 – Apr 27 // Apr 28 – May 4 // May 5 – May 11 // May 12 – May 18 // May 19 – May 25 // May 26 – Jun 1 // Jun 2 – Jun 8 // Jun 9 – Jun 15 // Jun 16 – Jun 22 // Jun 23 – Jun 29 // Jun 30 – Jul 6 // Jul 7 – Jul 13 // Jul 14 – Jul 20 // Jul 21 – Jul 27 // Jul 28 – Aug 3 // Aug 4 – Aug 10 // Aug 11 – Aug 17 // Aug 18 – Aug 24 // Aug 25 – Aug 31 // Sep 1 – Sep 7 // Sep 8 – Sep 14 // Sep 15 – Sep 21 // Sep 22 – Sep 28 // Sep 29 – Oct 5 // Oct 6 – Oct 12 // Oct 13 – Oct 19 // Oct 20 – Oct 26 // Oct 27 – Nov 2 // Nov 3 – Nov 9 // Nov 10 – Nov 16 // Nov 17 – Nov 23 // Nov 24 – Nov 30 // Dec 1 – Dec 7 // Dec 8 – Dec 14 // Dec 15 – Dec 21 // Dec 23 – Dec 28

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THIS WEEK: December 29 – January 11

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Ae! group – Hello

This is a different sound for them. It’s fine, but I feel like I’ve heard this kind of song dozens of times recently in J-pop.

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ALI – Casanova Posse

There’s a grittiness to this performance that’s very satisfying.

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BEYOOOOONDS -Aa Kimi ni Tensei

I love that funky opening. The rest of the song doesn’t quite live up to that intro, but this is still fun.

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Dialogue+ – Treasure!

A pretty typical J-idol sound.

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Fantastics – Pocket (song of the week!)

This won’t go down as an essential Fantastics track, but I like it more than most of their 2024 work. At least it’s upbeat, funky and has personality.

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Hiroyuki Sawano – Shadowborn (ft. Benjamin & mpi)

Hiroyuki Sawano’s gotta be one of the busiest producers in the world. The guy is always churning out new music.

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imase – Egoist

Erm… not feeling this one.

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Inaba Manaka – Hoshikuzu no Escape

The synthwave parts are quite good, though we’ve heard so many songs exactly like this over the past few years.

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Lienel – Go Around The World

The song has potential but the vocals are very rough.

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Lil League – Shigeki-Saiyusen

The intro to this song is super interesting. It quickly veers into more expected boy group territory, but there are touches here and there that keep my attention.

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LiSA – ReawakeR (ft. Felix of Stray Kids)

It’s funny… I could tell this was a Hiroyuki Sawano song without even looking at the production credits. The guy has such a signature (increasingly samey) style. This is as good as any of his stuff but I wish it differentiated itself somehow. It’s the best thing Felix has been on in awhile, though!

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Masayoshi Oishi – Be The Hero! (ft. Airi Suzuki)

His work is pretty hit or miss for me and unfortunately this is more of a miss. I appreciate the energy, though.

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NiziU – Yoake

The verses do nothing for me, but the chorus perks up a bit.

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Psychic Fever – Paradise

I love when they veer toward more melodic material like this. The song isn’t all that special, but they sound great.

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Scandal – Terra Boy

The chorus is quite catchy.

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TK from Ling tosite sigure – Un-Apex (song of the week!)

I can be quite hit-or-miss with this guy, but I really like this one. His music has such a frantic, unpredictable quality.

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Yuuri – DiNA

Will likely become a huge hit. Bores me to tears.

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Yuzu – Flowers

I enjoy the contrast between the folksier verses and driving rock chorus.

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2X2X – Aromatic

This sounds like it could have been released a few years ago and would have been right on trend. I like the energy.

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&TEAM – Magic Hour / Wonderful World

Neither of these songs feel essential to their discography, but both are fun enough to be welcome diversions.

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This week’s old favorite:

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Dream – My Will (2001)

The last minute of this is so strikingly gorgeous. I just adore this group — especially their first album (which was actually my first ever J-pop album!).