At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
Tag Archives: jpop
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (October 26, 2025)
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 … Continue reading
Song Review: Yuta (NCT) – Ember
NCT’s Yuta has taken his solo work as an opportunity to embrace a whole new persona. His Japanese discography rocks hard in a way that NCT was never designed for. This sits nicely within an industry that still wholeheartedly embraces rock music. New single Ember continues the sound, though it’s more likely to polarize than … Continue reading
Song Review: TXT – Where Do You Go?
TXT have gone all out for their new Japanese album, following single Can’t Stop with a second music video for album track Where Do You Go. I really like Can’t Stop and absolutely love my own cobbled together mix that adds a dance break and extra chorus, but of the album’s other new songs Where … Continue reading
Song Review: TXT – Can’t Stop
TXT are about to release their third Japanese studio album, making them well-established within the territory. Their albums have featured a mix of new material and Japanese re-recordings of Korean tracks, and this time we’ve got a proper lead single as well. Can’t Stop pulls from an addictive 80s sound and offers a peak at … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from October 12 – 18
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (October 19, 2025)
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 … Continue reading
Song Review: aoen – Seishun Incredibles
Someone needs to calculate just how many times the schoolboy/schoolgirl concept has been used in J-pop. That would be impossible, of course, as it’s become one of the industry’s leading tropes. It still works, partly because the idols themselves are young enough to sell it but mostly because it’s an experience the vast majority of … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from October 5 – 11
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (October 12, 2025)
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 … Continue reading
Song Review: ITZY – Rock & Roll
I’m always a bit skeptical about songs called “Rock & Roll” that aren’t from actual rock bands, but if anyone’s got the attitude to drive this style it’s ITZY. They made their name on a brash energy that felt punky even as it was carefully designed by a corporation to appear so. Japanese single Rock … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from September 28 – October 4
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (October 5, 2025)
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 … Continue reading
Song Review: i-dle – Where Do We Go
As we enter the pre-Chuseok holiday period, new K-pop releases are bound to slow down. However, that doesn’t affect Japanese releases from K-pop idols since they don’t have to worry about Korean music shows being cancelled. i-dle are taking advantage of this with new J-pop single Where Do We Go (どうしよっかな), which paints a summery … Continue reading
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of September 2025
At the end of each month, I look back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists. I take my own ratings into account, but there’s a bit of wiggle room as certain songs tend to grow or fade. September 2025 Overall Thoughts We’ve hit the rare (?) double-header in K-pop with two back-to-back underwhelming … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (September 28, 2025)
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 … Continue reading
Song Review: STARGLOW – Moonchaser
In 2020, AAA’s SKY-HI formed his company BMSG and since then he’s debuted a constant surge of new acts. The vast majority of this music has not been for me, as it often favors the type of clanging, shout-heavy hip-hop that I dislike in K-pop as well. Still, I appreciate his ambition and most of … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (September 21, 2025)
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 … Continue reading
Song Review: XG – GALA
Japanese girl group XG are gearing up for their first full-length album next January, and given J-pop’s extended promotional period its main single has dropped a few months early. Thus far, XG’s output can usually be slotted into three distinct categories: hip-hop, dance and r&b. GALA finds a way to combine these genres into something … Continue reading
Song Review: tripleS ∞! – Password
Japanese tripleS sub-unit “∞!” debuted last year with the moody, hypnotic Untitled. It was one of the better tripleS title tracks, though I can’t say it stayed on my playlist for long. Now, they’re back with a jauntier pop song in new single Password. There’s a joke going around about tripleS’s strong reliance on “la … Continue reading