3 Comments
User's avatar
Mason van Dyk's avatar

> I can’t think of a sonic and emotional shift further from what made Suchmos big

Vocaloid became the foundation for the nation’s pop, and anime its biggest driver. I associate Suchmos much more with like, jeans and cigarettes.

I think you've perfectly summed up why I've largely fallen off J-pop since roughly the beginning of Covid. It certainly feels like my generation are not in control of the narrative anymore.

Agreed with Ian, 2019 does feel like a decade ago.

Expand full comment
Ian Rawlinson's avatar

Very nicely written, you sound wistful. 2019 feels like decades ago already. Maybe that’s just because I’m old!

Expand full comment
Steven Smith's avatar

So a six-pointer refers to a soccer league game where a victory would cause a 6 point swing in the standings (-3 for the loser, +3 for the winner). Source: I looked it up when I was listened to The Anymal again a few months ago.

I have always had the much more cynical take that Suchmos was simply following the same pattern as hundreds of other pop acts - get famous off a Black music sound and then retreat into rock once you’ve got the bag (though credit to them that they at least *tried* to be experimental with it)

More cynical is I think this direction was largely decided by Yonce (as evidenced by the meandering rock stuff he does with Hedigans). HSU on the other hand spent his last few years launching Haruy’s solo career and composing one of Japan’s best R&B songs…

The appetite for funk rock may have gone away for like, 2 years (COVID to blame?), but the emergence and popularity of copycat acts like Billyrrom, Doona, luv, geloomy, etc. no doubt sparked suchmos’s return to that sound. Again, could discuss this one for days hah.

Expand full comment