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 // Feb 8 – Feb 14 // Feb 15 – Feb 21 // Feb 22 – Feb 28 // Mar 1 – Mar 7 // Mar 8 – Mar 14 // Mar 15 – Mar 21 // Mar 22 – Mar 28 // Mar 29 – Apr 4
THIS WEEK: April 5 – April 11
ALI – Funkin’ Beautiful (ft. ZORN)
Not something I’d listen to all the time, but this is quite charming.
B’z – Heaven Knows
At this point, you pretty much know what to expect from a B’z song. This meets expectations.
Candy Tune – Hot! Scoop!
Big and splashy and pretty fun.
Class Seven – Kokoronikisuwoshita
Good old-fashioned idol pop. Kind of dull, though.
f5ve – Wish
I enjoy the atmosphere of this, even if I wish it went a bit harder.
ILLIT – Bubee
My immature mind can’t handle that title, but I appreciate how this sounds kind of like an old Lovelyz track mixed with J-pop.
INI – All 4 U (song of the week!)
I wrote about this here. I loved it. In fact, it’s my favorite J-pop single of 2026 so far!
Kis-My-Ft2 – Heartloud (song of the week!)
Not their best (the chorus is a bit simple), but definitely one of their better recent singles. I like the video, too.
MONAKI – Honmayade Nandeyanen Shirankedo (song of the week!)
This is unhinged Eurobeat and I’ll always love that. Definitely a guilty pleasure, if such a thing exists.
Nogizaka46 – Sakurabashiooshietekureta
They’ve released so many videos from this latest single. Unfortunately, none have done much for me.
One N’ Only – WARAiNA
This is a type of song I tend to love. It’s summery and almost World Cup ish? It’s definitely missing something, though.
Penguin Research – uten zokkou
Unrelenting energy, as usual.
SE7ENTHSENSE – Love Doll
This has the driving energy I like. If only there weren’t a few rough patches throughout…
The Sixth Lie – Blue
A strong rock track.
Yurina Hirate – Kill Or Kiss (song of the week!)
I really like the sound of this and I of course love her. It feels like it’s missing a bit of spark, but it’s still solid.
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
That INI song is great! A real callback to what feels like simpler times now.
A friend turned me onto this song from a band called Metal Blossom this week, it’s got some grand, dramatic stuff with powerful vocals and guitar solos. I gotta find some time to dig into more of their stuff.
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Ooh, I like that song. Thanks for sharing!
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What an awesome find, thanks for sharing! I’ve been working my way through their songs, reminds me of Evanescence but with the energy level turned way up. The vocals are so expressive! Any of these tracks would have given lisa or aimer a run for their money as an intro for Kimetsu no yaiba…
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What in the world is that title? The song’s cute and all, but who names their song “Bubee”??? I laughed so hard when they sang ‘my bubee, bubee, bubee love’ 😭😭
Anyway, thanks to your review, I gave INI’s All 4 U a listen, and wowwww. I lost interest in them back in 2023 but I’m glad I saw your review of that song and gave it a listen. That’s song is soooo good!!! It reminds me of Golden Child’s 3! 6! 5! a lot. I love it.😍
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i think bubee is perfectly fine, not as good as toki yo tomare. i get what you mean when you said it’s reminiscent of lovely’z work, but it’s missing those fizzy synths which i absolutely adore (which is why ah-choo is one of my favorite songs) and it’s not that interesting in terms of melody.
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I’m not sure if I missed your review but what do you think of phantom siita’s new song? Personally I think it’s really fun 🙂
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Candy Tune – Hot! Scoop! / Cute! Quite engaging sound for this kind of song. 8
Class Seven – Kokoronikisuwoshita / I wouldn’t say it’s dull, just kinda formal, similar to the prim girl groups. I think this flows really well and has some spark to it. Might go down, but for now it’s a 7.5
f5ve – Wish / This sounds awesome! This spooky jungle sound is right up my alley. The hook is decent if a bit monotonous, but I think it still fits well. 8.5
ILLIT – Bubee / I was reading the title until “buh-bee” until now, so thanks for that! It’s very minor, but good enough for an add. 7.5
Kis-My-Ft2 – Heartloud / Works for me! 8.25
MONAKI – Honmayade Nandeyanen Shirankedo / I really like it. Good selection of songs this week! 8.25
SE7ENTHSENSE – Love Doll / Close, but too awkward in the end. 7
The Sixth Lie – Blue / This comes together pretty well. 7.75
Yurina Hirate – Kill Or Kiss / Doesn’t really speak to me. 7
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