Make Believe Melodies For August 28, 2023
J-pop After "Idol"
It’s not so much that the success of “Idol” opened up new possibilities for J-pop. Rather, the song — shattering chart records on Billboard Japan and just ever-present for those living here — accelerated existing movements, while also hitting the perfect intersection of multiple developments pointing towards a new era of J-pop with its own sonic identity and an eye towards the greater world, propelled by the mass popularity of other Japanese art (anime) and digital accessibility.
There’s no doubt 2023 ends up as “Idol’s” year, yet the summer is nearly over and one has to wonder…what direction will the country’s musical world go next, after a potential pop paradigm shift?
Well, probably in a lot of different directions, the Japanese music industry’s greatest strength. One development you can see coming pretty clearly, though, is greater prominence in more traditional pop makers. The last few years have been dominated by creators who came up in the Vocaloid community and transferred the ethos born on Nico Nico Douga to the mainstream. So…what about artists who aren’t quite as obviously online (though still totally capable of being pushed forward by social media)? This year has seen imase become an unlikely ambassador for J-pop, while Yuuri remains a stripped-down ambassador to the youth and people like Tani Yuuki continue to figure out their next moves.
Yet there’s one guy you always have to come back to in these discussions…
Fujii Kaze — “Workin’ Hard”
Fujii Kaze always seems one step ahead of where modern J-pop is going to go emotionally. While at one point in line with the general glumness of the country via a song carrying far darker undertones than it would initially indicate, he eventually chose to be upbeat and downright celebratory as everyone else stayed sighing and lashing out. Now with the nation’s pop mood stabilized, Kaze’s opting for solidarity on “Workin’ Hard.” Over a piano stomp, he’s both flexing his work ethic but nodding to everyone else out there busting their ass on the daily, acknowledging them and wishing he could help them out. It’s the small touches that make it really click — the sax wafting in post chorus, the way Kaze twists his syllables like Sheena Ringo at times in the verses, the gym-rattling extra beat comes the bridge — though the ultimate charm comes from Kaze breaking the fourth wall. He knows the people bumping his music are working hard…he’s got to keep pace to do his job, which is adding extra boost to their life.
There’s another element at play in “Workin’ Hard” just as telling. The video makes it clear — Kaze, having just wrapped up a continental tour,1 is celebrating his fans across Asia while highlighting a truth becoming clear in J-pop — the future belongs to expansion. To that end, he’s recruited DJ Dahi (Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Kali Uchis, a whole bunch more) to handle production rather than go-to creator Yaffle. This feels very intentional, and something that won’t be limited to any one way going forward. Listen above.
Conton Candy — “Fuzzy Navel”
Whatever shape Japanese music takes, rock is going to remain central to it. I could spin a wheel of bands doing well in the country for this entry, but let’s focus on a trio with an unexpected breakthrough aided by all the usual 2020s ways (TikTok, social media buzz) and something familiar (the number of people comparing them to Chatmonchy…). “Fuzzy Navel” is climbing up streaming charts…not just the viral ones…and reminding of how any band can gain a breakthrough (see the continued popularity of Chilli Beans., regional hits about low-alcohol-level drinks, etc). It also makes me think Homecomings could have been chart toppers if they started ten years later, but hey that’s a different conversation. Listen above.
JO1 — “RadioVision”
While I’m not sold on their global appeal (next entry for that one…), domestic listeners are going to keep coming to K-pop-indebted groups like these guys, at least for the near future. The potential for burnout runs high — we will get to the story about LDH’s Moonchild in a bit, and I kind of think we’ve passed peak survival show in the country — but for now dips into rubber-band funk-pop like “RadioVision” will help to keep these projects fresh…and rightfully so, as this is one of this project’s better singles in recent memory, teasing just enough fuzziness while being sturdy enough for now. Listen above.
XG — “New Dance”
Honestly, this might be the biggest story to watch for the rest of 2023 — can XG actually make it in the country all their members come from? The system is working overtime to sell them to the Japanese public after being invisible here up until maybe this Spring, between a prominent Spotify ad campaign and Forbes Japan putting them on the cover of their “30 Under 30” issue. It’s possibly the grandest experiment in a reverse-import ever…can something designed so specifically to be stateless make it in a market like Japan?
The tension underneath all of this is how the answer to that question could shape the approach companies and labels take as Japanese music becomes more ambitious globally. My personal biases up front…I think XG’s move to zap all distinguishing cultural characteristics out of their music, to the point of not calling this “J-pop” or “K-pop” but [shudder] “X-pop” is like borderline dystopian, the wrinkles and regional specificities that make pop so interesting on a world stage chucked aside in favor of globalized goop. Then again, I don’t work for a music company2! That said, I sort of respect how they’ve chosen to reject the industry-wisdom that “listeners are becoming more open to pop in languages other than English” and instead remind “uh huh, ‘Dynamite’ and ‘Butter’ were all English, those are real hits, not one-week wonders.” If XG can manage Japanese success while also performing well abroad (as they have), they’ll absolutely sway some here to follow their path, for better or for worse.
All that said, I do like the vocal effects on “New Dance.” Listen above.
Tatsuya Kitani — “Aoi No Sumika”
OK, one trend not going anywhere and maybe only getting stronger — anime is the launching pad for most artists at home and abroad (XG, call up the SPY X FAMILY people!), and that medium is doing a great job showcasing a wide variety of artists to the world. Tatsuya Kitani has enjoyed a huge boost for this song, which serves as the opening theme for the latest season of Jujutsu Kaisen and currently sits in the top 50 of Spotify’s Viral 50 United States, while doing well in plenty of other places, behind a sound blurring math rock with electronic flair and good ol’ fashion rock belting. Hell, the ending theme by Soushi Sakayama isn’t far off in popularity — but I’m saving that one for a solo post. Listen above.
ano — “Smile Agenai”
What if the future…is just ano?
I see ano almost daily. She’s outside of my local Book-Off outlet, in cardboard cut-out form. She’s on at least one variety show daily. She’s a staple of my YouTube column, and I’m too lazy to fix that. And of course, she’s tied to McDonald’s via this promotional earworm, not played as much but still sneaking into the store’s PA occasionally. The former You’ll Melt More! member has become Japan’s new “it” girl, and also lays claim to what is probably the second-biggest Chainsaw Man song behind only Kenshi Yonezu’s opening theme (largely because it stands on its own, even though watching the show reveals further, grosser depths to it). I mostly brushed off this fast-food ad on early listens as being nifty but just being a little too nakedly advertising for my idiot heart (see also: NewJeans’ Coca-Cola Zero song), but lolz it got stuck in my head in the months after! That’s thanks to 1) music courtesy of current “it” producer Kenmochi Hidefumi and 2) an absolutely idiotic but sticky bit about McNuggets. Happy-Meal-adjacent or not, it’s a sign ano is a pop player, and one with a reach extending pretty far. Listen above.
Lamp — “A Toshi No Aki” (2014)
Recently saw a tweet noting how Japanese band Lamp has more monthly Spotify listeners than like Ryuichi Sakamoto and Fishmans among others, and seeing as how part of Japanese music’s appeal globally is how everything is in play…why not them as the next breakthrough? And given the way these things work…why not their sound reverberating back towards their home country? Some savvy artist is going to hire them to write songs for them…and that actually already happened via Kaede of Negicco’s Stardust In Blue! But now someone will do it and get attention, though us real heads will know what a jammer that full-length is. Listen above.
Eve — “Kororon”
Let’s be real though — that Vocaloid-indebted lane still has a lot of juice left in it. Beyond the obvious YOASOBI and Ado corner, artists like Eve continue to explore the existential dread of “an uncertain future” younger folks stare down daily, while wrapping these meditations up in anime-style music videos with their own self-contained stories (not to mention…one of their funkiest melodies to date! Even those in limbo can have some fun). Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of August 14, 2023 To August 20, 2023
Back in the day, the Oricon Music Charts were the go-to path to music stardom in Japan. Acts of all sorts traversed these lands, trying to sell as many CDs as possible in order to land a good ranking on a chart choosing to only count physical sales, even as the Internet came to be and the number of versions offered for sale got ridiculous. Today, with the country finally in on digital, these roads are more barren and only looked at by the most fanatic of supporters needing something to celebrate. Yet every week, a new song sells enough plastic to take the top spot. So let’s take a trip down…the Oricon Trail.
Kazuya Kamenashi — “Cross” (98,895 Copies Sold)
How does Johnny & Associates figure into the immediate future of J-pop? Well…a lot, since their talent are still mega popular, even if the company itself still has, uhhhh, a lot to sort out. Yet I don’t think songs like this, a pretty bland and straight-ahead pop number from a member of KAT-TUn, have much to do with tomorrow. Save maybe for the fact you can still top Oricon even if you are going alone after your peak years.
News And Views
Ruan Ohyama announced she would go on hiatus from the group MOONCHILD — the first project between HYBE LABELS JAPAN and LDH — due to poor health. As Asian Junkie sums up in English, this stems from “inappropriate behavior” from an “outside instructor” Ohyama met with, which even allegedly lead to the performer to post code on her Twitter related to “power harassment.”
Two men who groped DJ SODA at Osaka’s Music Circus festival turned themselves into authorities and posted an apology video online, wherein they apologized for their actions, adding further details as to why they did it, ranging from “they didn’t mean to touch anywhere inappropriate” to “we were drunk.” Others believed to have groped the South Korean artist haven’t come forward yet.
Japan’s Natsue Coco helped invent the NPC thing you’ve seen on TikTok…or more likely seen in abject disgust on Twitter. Well good news, she’s a pop star! She sort of riffs on her creation in the video.
Great look at the spread of queer club scenes in Tokyo from Kim Kahan.
Despite a few real groaners within, this story about Swedish songwriter and producer Andreas Öberg’s catalog — which includes a bunch of hits for J-pop and K-pop acts — is intriguing, seeing as how many foreign writers and producers — Scandinavian or otherwise — have been wrapped up in these industries for years.
In a great example of “buzzed about topic that most people didn’t care about but a vocal minority got super pissed about,” NewJeans member Hanni detailed the group’s recent trip to Japan as “our short trip to sushi land.” This blew up on Twitter, though most of the response was “very funny” or “yes, sushi!” though as you would imagine some people did get very sensitive about this. But this is like, classic Twitter, so don’t think too hard about it.
The Sweet Love Shower music festival cancelled Saturday night sets, including one from Sekai No Owari, due to heavy rain, leading to pretty dramatic shots of punters trudging through the water and mess. Not to get too “think of the future,” but while this is common (and understandeable), I also flash back to Summer Sonic this year, where over 100 people got heatstroke and wonder…when do fests start cancelling sets due to heat concerns? Maybe not yet, but I think that day is coming.
Hikakin recreated the “Idol” music video.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
This video also underlines the other thematic and emotional shift Kaze could herald…a drift towards a vague spirituality. Still too early to tell, but his presentation and handful of songs point the way, while “Workin’ Hard” feels almost New Testament in its call for brothers to come together. And I mean…
Now PR…that’s a different story…
Just a thought...
Rather than IDOL being a break from what came before, it may just be a loop back in time.
IDOL is sonic-ally reminiscent of early Capsule...sure a little more bombastic but more related that distant. Even though this topic keeps pooping up, I think it may be a little early to be calling an end to the current Jpop.
Something in Jpop may just make it more resilient to current cultural changes than most people had it pegged for.
I was going to give Kaze crap for working with Dahi instead of Yaffle (who is incredible), but that song goes so hard, no pun intended.