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 // Feb 2 – Feb 8 // Feb 9 – Feb 15 // Feb 16 – Feb 22 // Feb 23 – Mar 1 // Mar 2 – Mar 8 // Mar 9 – Mar 15 // Mar 16 – Mar 22 // Mar 23 – Mar 29 // Mar 30 – Apr 5
THIS WEEK: April 6 – April 12
Ado – Rockstar
This seems like a very fitting title for Ado! I like the guitar riffs but wish this was a bit more explosive overall. She really attacks it, though.
ANGERME – Andoroido wa yumewomiru ka?
This has a great, classic Hello Project style chorus.
AsIs – Kimi no suki o hitei nanka shinai (song of the week!)
This is a great example of this style of surging girl group idol pop. It could be a bit more unique, but I like their voices and the instrumental has great drive.
Ayumi Hamasaki – Mimosa
Perfectly pleasant but very far from a discography standout.
cosmosy – Lucky=One
This is a nice throwback to a late-2010’s tropical sound. The song doesn’t really go anywhere, though.
DISH// – Fashion★Star
A catchy track by this popular rock group.
Generations – Two Steps Back (song of the week!)
Early-2000’s Neptunes-esque production is very much in trend, isn’t it? This has a lot of groove. I like it! The old-fashioned city-pop visuals are really throwing me off, though. Two completely different eras!
Hi-Fi Un!corn – Beat It! Beat It!
That title was always going to invite comparisons to the Michael Jackson classic, which is a much too wide shadow to crawl out from. I wish this leaned further into its electronic/dance elements. It’s decent but a bit unfocused.
Hoshimachi Suisei – I Don’t Care
This has great, bouncy energy during its uptempo parts.
IMP. – Cheek To Cheek
Within their discography, this is mid-tier. It’s not bad, but it’s also not doing much for me.
Kento Nakajima – Montage (song of the week!)
It seems like everyone’s working with producer Hiroyuki Sawano nowadays. He has such an identifiable style I was able to guess this was his work even before looking up the credits. Anyway, it’s probably the best of Kento’s solo singles yet. This is a smart pairing for him and although the track sounds quite familiar it works very well.
Kep1er – Yum (song of the week!)
I wrote about this here. The chorus is just brilliant and everything else is growing on me.
MAZZEL – King Kila Game
The verses have tons of potential but the “chorus” is godawful. Like… truly obnoxious. When will we be freed from this style of boy group track??
NMB48 – Chu Strike
I wrote about this a couple weeks ago and now it has an mv. I still enjoy the energy and the chorus is strong.
Queen Bee – High Flame (song of the week!)
I wrote about this last week and now it has an mv. It’s not one of the band’s best, but I still like it quite a bit.
SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] – Inertia (ft. Rei) (song of the week!)
Remember how I said that producer Hiroyuki Sawano is incredibly busy right now? Well, here’s another new song by him. This might actually be better than the Kento Nakajima track.
The Sixth Lie – Scramble Line (ft.Akira Takano) (song of the week!)
A song like this is why I still dig through so much mediocre material each week. Every once and awhile, you find buried treasure. I know nothing about this group, but I like this very much. A great blend of rock and electro with an awesome chorus!
The Super Fruit – Daibu Diversity
Not my thing at all.
T.N.T – Leap Of Faith (song of the week!)
Though XY hasn’t actually released any new group music, they’re still churning out side projects. T.N.T is an offshoot of their rock group and with their new EP they’ve already released more music than the main group they spawn from. Super weird. It’s a good thing these songs are very solid.
TXT – Rise
A very typical J-rock anime track.
World Order – Neo Samurai
I had no idea World Order were still putting out music! I wish this had more vocals.
XG – In The Rain
I wrote about this here. I thought it was pretty dull.
This week’s old favorite:
Snow Man – Party! Party! Party! (2021)
Snow Man released a large chunk of their material on streaming this week, so I’ll take this chance to spotlight one of my favorite album tracks that was previously unavailable. You can’t beat this chorus… especially if you have a soft spot for early-2010’s EDM.
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
what would the score be for cosmosy – Lucky=One and how would you rate yum now?
LikeLike
im so addicted to Lucky=One, love the flute sounds
LikeLike
I’ve been trying to come up with my own 100 Favorite J-Pop Songs of the 21st Century, based on my own severely limited knowledge and listening experience that I’ve managed to glean. I’m at about 69 songs, but considering some favorites by Sexy Zone, Namie Amuro, King & Prince, Kat-tun and the like aren’t available on Youtube, it’s definitely an incomplete playlist. And I’m sure I’ve yet to discover so many greats, so this is by no means a claim to be definitive.
Please tell me of any glaring omissions that you think belong in any conversation about the 100 best:)
LikeLike
(PS – If you click on the link above, you should be able to see the complete playlist on the right.)
LikeLike
Okay, I took a look at my most-played J-pop songs and here are the ones I found that weren’t on your list (at least, I don’t think they are!). Not necessarily saying these would automatically make my list, but by pure play count they would. I tried to only include songs that are available worldwide (so no KAT-TUN… yet!)
Arashi –Daremo Shiranai
Ayumi Hamasaki – Fly High
B1A4 – Sukidakara Shouganai
Bullet Train – Star Gear
BuZZ – Sun & Love
Dream – Private Wars
Exile – All Night Long
EXO – Electric Kiss
Flowback – Heartbreaker
Generations – Pierrot
Generations – Taiyou mo Tsuki mo
Keyakizaka46 – Fukyōwaon
M!LK – Winding Road
M!LK – Over The Storm
Perfume – Pick Me Up
Predia – Kowareta Ai no Hate ni
One Love One Heart – Glory Dayz
One Love One Heart – Honjitsu wa Seiten Nari
Purple Days – Brand New Days
Queen Bee – Violence
The Rampage – Fullmetal Trigger
SHINee – Kimi No Seide
SNSD – Flower Power
SNSD – Paparazzi
Super Dragon – Mr. Game
WARPs Up – Rock Tonight
&TEAM – Koegawari
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh neat, thanks for these! I’m gonna have a listen to many here, which aren’t familiar to me; and a re-listen to some I hadn’t considered. I thought about Electric Kiss, but I much prefer Cosmic Railway, and unfortunately there’s no MV. I knew I wanted to add one of those Girls’ Generation’s songs, but hadn’t yet decided which of the two I prefer. (Maybe I’ll add both!:) I’ll have to relisten to B1A4’s song, I don’t remember loving it as much as I do their Korean songs. I was actually listening to Flowback’s Heartbreaker earlier today, and trying to decide if I want to add it or not. Can’t wait to listen to the others you mentioned!
EijiDoesThings: Wow, I forgot about Morning Musume’s Love Machine, I’m adding that one, a definite oversight on my part. I’ll listen to the others you mentioned, they’re new to me:)
LikeLike
then maybe i’ll suggest some more songs to be added
tsunami – southern all stars
polyrhythm – perfume
urban dance – girl next door
drive away – girl next door
the day – porno graffiti
gurenge – lisa
colors – flow (aka sexy zone run’s older brother)
bang – miyavi
horizon – miyavi
aitakatta – akb48
kokoro no chizu – boystyle
snow halation – muse
reason – nami tamaki
realize – nami tamaki
aiwokomete hanatabao – superfly
LikeLiked by 1 person
considered adding some hello project to the playlist?
morning musume (love machine, renai revolution 21, kanashimi twilight, go girl koi no victory), c-ute (kanashiki heaven, dance de bakoon), beyooooonds (nippon no dna)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh wait, I see why I didn’t add Love Machine – it came out in 1999! Bummer. I also wanted to add a tune or two from Hikaru Utada’s debut, but that was also ’99 😦 Maybe I should make an exception. I’ll listen to the others you mentioned, they’re new to me:)
LikeLike
i think im gonna spotlight some c-ute here
nick, could you give me your honest opinion on these songs?
starting off with my 9+’s so far:
and some other highlights i really like:
LikeLike
C-ute is one of those groups I’m always meaning to get into, but once I find a song I like I find another I don’t, which has kept me from doing any sort of deep dive. I hadn’t heard these two songs before.
The Grieving Heaven: I like it on first listen, but don’t love it. However, it seems like the kind of song that would improve upon future listens because the melody is pretty circuitous rather than hit-you-over-the-head catchy. I really like the instrumentation.
Danceでバコーン！: This one isn’t really doing it for me, though I enjoy the rock touches. I don’t tend to love this kind of girl group song, though, so that’s to be expected. It’s a bit too chirpy for me (an issue I have with a lot of HP songs, actually).
I’ll have to sample your other picks when I have more time 🙂
LikeLike
I followed T6L when they first debuted and they have a really great electropop-rock sound. They got more recognition for the theme song they did for Golden Kamuy and slowly started to do more anime theme songs. They are SUPER popular in Thailand.
LikeLike
I followed T6L when they first debuted and they have a really great electropop-rock sound. They got more recognition for the theme song they did for Golden Kamuy and slowly started to do more anime theme songs. They are SUPER popular in Thailand. They did have one member change since then though.
LikeLike
If you have the time, you should consider checking out ME:I and their new EP muse. I really enjoyed ‘Our Diary’, ‘Million Stars’, and a bunch of their other songs. I’m not sure it’s your style, but I enjoy their sound and think it’s worth checking out!
LikeLike