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

---

THIS WEEK: February 2 – February 8

---

Ae group! – Colorful Days

One day Starto Entertainment will start releasing music I love again. Today is not that day, and this is not that music.

---

BE:FIRST – Spacecraft

It’s nice hearing them sing a bit more during the verses, but overall I continue to struggle with this group. I just don’t find their music that interesting.

---

Color – It’s Brand New

This is for the Exile fans that like when they lean into slower R&B. Unfortunately, I’m not that style of Exile fan.

---

CZ’24 – Answer

This is from of EBiDAN’s many trainee groups but I thought it was catchy enough to include.

---

ENVii GABRIELLA – Psycho Dance

This is a fun, relatively unknown group with a few bangers in their arsenal. We can safely add Psycho Dance to the list, I think!

---

Generations – True Or Doubt

Nice and funky, though it feels like there are dozens of songs like this released every month.

---

Genic – Unstoppable / Step By Step!! / Maison Genic / Parade!! (song of the week!)

Genic’s new album was my main J-pop moment of the week. Overall, it’s probably my least favorite release from them but I could craft a killer EP from its tracks and that’s nothing to complain about! The single It’s Showtime continues to reign supreme, but I like these four b-sides as well.

---

Hiromitsu Kitayama – Osmosis (song of the week!)

He released a special digital EP this week. Most of the new songs feel extraneous, but this EDM-meets-rock stunner instantly works its way into the upper echelon of his discography. It’s such a massive sound.

---

The Jet Boy Bangerz -B.A.D (Breaking All Destinations)

This just sounds like reheated K-pop to me.

---

Juice=Juice – Hatsukoi no Bourei

This has a nice classic J-pop sound. I really like some of the synths used in the verses.

---

Man With A Mission – Reaching For The Sky

I wrote about this last week but now it has an mv.

---

milet – I Still

As nice as her voice is, this is much too slow for me.

---

Moonbyul – Aurora

I wrote about this here. I thought it was pretty boring.

---

Naniwa Danshi – Doki It

I’ve really fallen out with Naniwa Danshi’s music. This feels like a retread for them.

---

natori – Dressing Room

Fans of this ultra-trendy sound will enjoy this. I’ve kind of had my fill already.

---

Perfume – Human Factory (song of the week!)

I loved their last album and this feels like an extension of that so I love it too. The synths are so nice.

---

Polaris – LarmeR

A tried and true J-pop formula. It’s pleasant.

---

Sakurazaka46 – Udagawa Generation

They had such an incredible 2024. This isn’t quite up their with their best work, but it’s still a ton of fun.

---

Scandal – Doukashiterutte

I’m not super familiar with their discography, but this feels a little different (lighter?) for them. It’s groovy.

---

WANDS – Shooting Star

A solid rock track.

---

This week’s old favorite:

---

Revalcy – White Of Crime (2014)

My latest in a long line of underknown Daisuke Asakura produced bangers that are worth anyone’s time.