Feature

New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (September 24, 2023)

New and Noteworthy J-popIn 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 Index: Feb 1 – Feb 18 // Feb 19 – 25 // Feb 26 – Mar 3 // Mar 4 – Mar 10 // Mar 11 – Mar 18 // Mar 19 – Mar 25 // Mar 26 – Apr 1 // Apr 2 – Apr 8 // Apr 9 – Apr 15 // Apr 16 – Apr 22 // Apr 23 – Apr 29 // Apr 30 – May 6 // May 7 – May 13 // May 14 – May 20 // May 21 – May 27 // May 29 – Jun 3 // Jun 4 – Jun 10 // Jun 11 – Jun 17 // Jun 18 – Jun 24 // Jun 25 – Jul 1 // Jul 2 – Jul 8 // Jul 9 – Jul 15 // Jul 16 – Jul 22 // Jul 23 – Jul 29 // Jul 30 – Aug 5 // Aug 6 – Aug 12 // Aug 13 – Aug 19 // Aug 20 – Aug 26 // Aug 27 – Sep 2 // Sep 3 – Sep 9 // Sep 10 – Sep 16


THIS WEEK: Sep 17 – Sep 23


Ado – Dignity

This is a notable collaboration between the very popular Ado and J-pop legends B’z. I’m not bowled over by it, but I always love hearing her sing a big, emotional ballad.


BMSG EAST – The Sun from the EAST

Fans of SKY-HI’s extended musical universe are so lucky. It feels like they’re getting new music every week! This is the first of two collaboration tracks to celebrate his agency’s anniversary. I like the brassy beat and overall vibe.


BMSG WEST – The Moon in the WEST

And, this is the second track. It’s a bit more downbeat, which (unsurprisingly) means I prefer the first one.


BUDDiiS – Koi To Me

This is a stylish transformation for BUDDiiS! The song could be stronger, but I love this sound for them.


Fantastics – It’s All Good

I adore Fantastics, but this song is quite boring.


Generations – Diamonds

A very cool sound for them, but it needs a better song to go along with the energy.


JO1 – Venus

JO1’s music is beginning to lean too close to generic for my taste. This is enjoyable for about a minute but doesn’t really go anywhere. It feels like it could have been performed by any modern boy group.


The Lethal Weapons – Weather Report (song of the week!)

The Lethal Weapons continue to mine their cheesy 80’s shtick on their new album. I love the synth-fueled sound, but I wish it was a little less silly. Still, this gets a “song of the week” shoutout during an underwhelming week.

They also released another new video for the track King Of Pop.


Ken Miyake – Ready To Dance

I like Ken Miyake, but I’m kind of allergic to his singing voice. Even so, I’m glad to see him release his first song under new agency TOBE.


THE MADNA – Gokusaishiki

This is fun chaos.


Morning Musume. ‘23 – Wake-up Call

The first thirty seconds convinced me this was going to be a synth masterpiece, but the song struggles to find melodies as strong as that instrumental. It needs a different chorus entirely.


Mrs. Green Apple – Antenna

I didn’t really peg this as a single when the album was released in July, but it’s a pretty enjoyable follow-up to the far-superior Magic.


Sean Oshima – That’s How It Works

I’ve been listening to Sean Oshima’s recent album a lot this week and he has some songs I really love. That’s How It Works isn’t one of them, but I’d highly encourage you to check out tracks like Imagine and Fine-Sounding Talk for some upbeat, retro-pop goodness.


Sexy Zone – Honne to Tatemae / Try This One More Time

Sexy Zone released one of their best albums (and one of my favorites of the year) in June, then followed it up with what may be the worst single/b-sides of their career. I don’t really like anything on this new single. Too much autotune and dull, leaden tempos. Whenever Johnny’s acts try to lean into alternative/indie sounds, it rarely works for me.

Try This One More Time is the best of the bunch, I guess.


w-inds. – Run

I’m not sure if this will eventually be promoted with a music video or not. It would make a solid single.


Yuzu – Beautiful (song of the week!)

Despite their popularity, I rarely pay attention when new Yuzu music comes out. However, Beautiful’s rousing, theatrical sound caught my attention. It’s my song of the week, even if its chorus could be a bit stronger.


This week’s old favorite:


M!LK – Over The Storm (2018)

I just finished watching Trillion Game this week, which co-stars Sano Hayato. So, it seems like as good a time as any to spotlight a favorite tracks from one of the many iterations of his group M!LK. Over The Storm has the relentless energy I love in a pop song.

7 thoughts on “New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (September 24, 2023)

    • That’s a massive question that I’m probably not qualified to answer fully, but here are the biggest differences I notice. Obviously, there are exceptions to all of these:

      Diversity and size of the market

      As far as genre, concept and sound, J-pop has a much wider scope than K-pop. Of course, it depends how you want to define the terms, as there are certainly successful non-idol acts in K-pop too. But overall, the Japanese music market is wide and deep. There’s so many different styles and a much more diverse selection of chart-topping acts. This extends to idols, too. In Japan, you can make a whole career out of being a niche idol group with a small but devoted fan base. That doesn’t really happen in K-pop.

      Perfection versus personality

      K-pop prizes perfection in everything, from looks to dance synchronization to vocal stability. In general, the idol side of J-pop cares more for personality and relatability. You’ll often hear vocals that are more raw and see dance formations that are more unpolished, but they’re usually performed with tons of character. If K-pop idols are untouchable gods and goddesses, J-pop idols are often “boy or girl next door” types.

      Export versus localization

      While K-pop is much more focused on exporting its music to international markets, J-pop is far more localized. They have a much bigger market to play with at home, so they simply don’t need to appeal to foreign markets as much. I feel like this influences the kind of music coming out of each country. J-pop can afford to be more niche, while K-pop has to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

      Also, it’s important to know that much of what we know as the modern K-pop idol industry was built upon systems first developed in Japan. From an outsider’s perspective, J-pop a real sense of history and many of its acts continue to release music for decades. There seems to be more of a willingness to invest in the long-term.

      Hope this helps! I feel like this should be a blog post of its own haha

      Liked by 1 person

  1. Great explanation of JPop v. Kpop. On another note, I would love to see Ado do a cover of a western anthemic type of song (some of Queen’s songs come to mind). The raw emotion she brings to every song she sings would add a new twist of any cover.

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