Make Believe Melodies For June 9, 2025
Always Buy The Ironic Merchandise, You Never Know When It Will Be Gone!
perfect young lady — PYL 4th SEASON...
The world perfect young lady invites you into through her music turns claustrophobic quickly. Sure, there’s all these charming melodies and honey-sweet hooks dotting the songs, but the longer you spend amongst them the quicker everything starts seeming off. A particular passage seems pitched in a weird way. A sudden interlude appears and like some long-forgotten TV comedy theme song…but you can’t quite place it. A Donkey-Kong yelp or a sample of a Japanese variety show clip becomes a key driver of a number. Above all else, the protagonist of this all swerves between absurd scenes and more deflated observations on life. It’s a character from a terrestrial-station drama narrating their life…except you’ve found yourself sharing space with a minor presence used as a comedic foil, but hiding a lot of depth.
Welcome to the 4th season of perfect young lady, every bit as madcap, surreal and catchy as the last three.
I don’t think there’s anyone better in Japan right now defining what a “bedroom artist” should be than perfect young lady. Not much has changed from the proverbial pilot — she’s still creating oddball numbers built from as wonky a tool kit as one could use, topped off by surreal details about monkey friends and microchips hidden inside sewing machines offset by cutting lines on the disappointment that is being an adult. Somehow, from all of this, she assembles some of the prettiest pop songs around, all without retreating from her flights of fancy.
On 4th SEASON, that balance between the bonkers and the bummers feels especially pronounced. Some of the lyrical details here play like high-concept J-drama, including a trip to a place called “Lemon Island” full of cannibals and a bit on being encased in bamboo…but there’s more 2025 lines about the failures of romance and the general scam feeling of existence (explored on the delicate “kokoronashika,” featuring sick synths lurking). It’s easy to fall back on TV tropes when talking about perfect young lady because her songs carry the energy of a left-field comedy, the sort that airs at 11 p.m. every Sunday. It helps that “Crystal” centers around variety show samples and a lot of her melodies sound like theme tunes (when they don’t sound like a supermarket).
Yet what makes 4th SEASON so great and another highlight in the discography of Japan’s premier underground gem is how it all sounds. No matter if she lets a sudden wave of bell chimes swoop in, or she barks out a loud “baka!” to practically scream at herself for some romantic miscue, or suddenly pivots to a MIDI-bongo beat midway through a song…she always finds a way to hit a catchy center. It’s perplexing pop…but every bit as gorgeous too. Get it here, or listen above.
xngb2 — My Name is xngb2
Hip-hop beats to dissociate and / or freak out to. Tokyo-based producer xngb2’s sonic-business-card of an album highlights an artist inspired by the sample-based creation of a J Dilla, but who opts to warp that approach into something delirious and intentionally hard for an MC to jump on. It’s great to crash into listeners, though, from the drill-like whirl of “WOOORM” to the cartoon-crash-fest that is “TRLST?” It ultimately has a lot in common with the modern Japanese experimental scene, where artists like Foodman and Toiret Status revel at the wacky possibilities sounds have and explore them for all they are worth. Count xngb2 in that pile, whether warping dusty samples or transforming the sound of internet dial-up tones into a sonic weapon. Get it here, or listen above.
Ibushi — “Blossom”
For something so glitchy, it’s ultimately impressive how patient Osaka rapper Ibushi’s “Blossom” ends up. The bulk of this song is a jittery skitter session, with electronic twitches carrying the song ahead and subtly mutating along the way. On its own, this rush makes for a good listen, but the way it opens up for Ibushi to step in and deliver heartfelt verses growing in intensity. Rather than make their lines the center of attention, they instead become the payoff, and are carried off by those familiar sounds to close it out. Listen above.
ANORAK! — “Shade”
Angst and self-doubt are far trickier to pin as some degree of “angry” or “sad.” The true experience of either (or both) is more mixed, and it’s likelier to gnaw away at you while navigating daily life than shut you down. It’s this blurry interpretation powering “Shade,” a song highlighting the experimental side of the band ANORAK! and captures them at its most creatively daring. The key touch is a hearty amount of manipulated vocals, with the singing turning inhuman throughout and becoming a kind of sonic symbol for the pain at the core of its lyrics. Critically, it never retreats, but rather turns those feelings into fuel to power a late song turn to the uptempo, with confusion still intact. Listen above.
Skytopia — SIGNS
A serotonin-shot delivered via busy, buzzy dance cuts. Producer Skytopia has been creating upbeat blasts of Tehcnicolor fun via his solo project, group efforts and works made for others, but I’m not sure any of them approach the pace established on SIGNS. Assisted by guest rapper Sigma-T on shuffling opener “ODORIBA” and later joined by a sampled female voice that almost feels clinical at times. Those are interesting touches, but it’s ultimately Skytopia’s driving melodies and bright synth dapples giving them a blinding brightness on songs such as “Pu!se.” Pure sonic mood lifter. Listen above.
Milk Talk — “MÖBIUS”
Milk Talk add a dash of acid to its dance-pop blend on “MÖBIUS.” The duo’s familiar grooves move by without flinching, but here are joined by bass squelch that adds a touch of tension to the floor-eyeing boogie, one made even more urgent when the pair introduce a spoken-word interlude featuring the song around them melting…and being scooped back into something catchy right after. This isn’t a project I’d normally associate with being unnerving, but even party starters need to get a little hair-raising. Listen above.
AMEFURASSHI — “Don’t stop the music”
AMEFURASSHI’s Four Hearts EP offers an exercise in variety, finding the quartet dabbling in some harder electro-tinged cuts, strolling R ‘n’ B and cutesy balladry. Yet it’s when they embrace full-hearted pop bliss do they hit a real winner. “Don’t stop the music” earns the annual MBMelodies’ “In A Just World This Would Be A Summer Super Smash Award,” echoing former winners such as Shiggy Jr. and Dorian in embracing a disco-born sound and welding it to contemporary sonic splashes. There’s a touch of the nostalgic…but it’s far too in-the-moment to ever feel like a history lesson, to the point where a line like “we gon party like we gonna die tonight” adding the slightest unease to this all…but mostly feeling like “alright!”
This is just such a blast of unrelenting catchiness, which is what I personally gravitate most towards a song I want to define the warmest stretch of the year. Helping its cause a lot is its pedigree — this one comes partially composed by sty, responsible for shaping two-decades-worth of J-pop bangers and who has an ear for hooks. AMEFURASSHI know it too, and are happy to let that dominate the song, and result in one of Japan’s finest earworms of 2025. Listen above.
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Oricon Trail For The Week Of May 26, 2025 To June 1, 2025
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.
Hey! Say! JUMP — “encore” (204,965 Copies Sold)
Let’s turn attention inward for a moment — the reason I keep doing Oricon Trail after like, 15 years is because the Oricon ecosystem has become its own kind of Galapagos phenomenon within a larger Galapagos context. I argued years ago that the Japanese public stopped treating this ranking as the definitive list for J-pop after periods of confusion and fan-guided exploitation that distorted its main job. Yet that didn’t mean Oricon ceased to be meaningful…rather, it mutated into something I largely see as a fandom chart, capturing which supporters of J-pop and K-pop can mobilize best to get their guys or gals to the top. An accurate snapshot of a fragmented musical landscape like Japan’s requires a lot of different sources (where does “BRR BRR PATAPIM FUNK” fit???), and Oricon has to be part of it…not just the only one.
This came to mind after stumbling across some scattered but seemingly growing “online discourse” about the Billboard Hot 100 in the context of American music. The gist of it — this chart just doesn’t feel reflective of what people in the States actually listen to, or at least what people think is being listened to. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” being the vehicle for these takes, though I’ll note that the Billboard Hot 100 has seemed really under-discussed compared to previous years in music journalist circles and feels quite inessential.
I think that’s because America is finally having its own Oricon-reckoning moment, where it becomes clear the chart as exists now has flaws. It’s manifesting itself in very different ways1, but I’m picking up a lot of similarities between Hot 100 in 2025 and Oricon in 2015, down to Morgan Wallen standing in for AKB48, the latter dubbed “the shame of Japan” by commentators at this time while the prior inspires articles like “Does Being a Morgan Wallen Fan Make You MAGA? Why the Country Bad Boy’s Music Is Trump-Coded.”
I’m curious how all this shakes out and what the Hot 100 ends up being (or changing into), but for now I point to this week’s top Oricon single as a potential snapshot of what to expect. Hey! Say! JUMP in 2025 feels like a mid-tier STARTO act, at best, and I feel its safe to say they reflect nothing about pop culture in the country this decade. Yet that fan devotion is still important, and it helps to push the group’s latest — a middle-of-the-road dance-pop song accented by some colorful future-bass-adjacent touches to give it some digital sparkle — to the singles peak, and that definitely counts for something. Listen above.
News And Views
peterparker69 set to make a big announcement on June 18, with all signs pointing towards it being a debut album.
Motoki Ohmori of Mrs. GREEN APPLE retweeted something by the founder of Local Visions.
Folks, I think everything is starting to converge…it’s going to be a weird, wonderful summer based off of all these odd interactions and developments.Billboard Japan shared its first-half of 2025 stats, and surprise surprise Mrs. GREEN APPLE runs everything.
I also offered my thoughts on the first six months of the year for The Japan Times.
m-flo performs “come again” on THE FIRST TAKE. Feel like the channel has done a good job highlighting turn-of-the-millennium J-pop as of late. Bonus points for a unique arrangement, too!
I interviewed Lullatone for scrmbl! A really long one, but a great chat with the artist responsible for the name of this blog.
Natalie has a look at Japanese fusion records that have connected with Western listeners.
RIP SLYME is back together, how fun! They instantly went and released the most cursed piece of J-pop merchandise since the Sheena Ringo medical-assistance sign.
Oh man, what a hat. Would have killed to know what the meetings designing those were like. RIP SLYME tweeted about these two caps but quietly removed them, though I also don’t think it really sparked any kind of actual backlash from anyone.
Still, it’s kind of outrageous…that these things sold out before I could ironically buy one. This should be in some kind of 2020s museum, but alas I won’t be curating it.
Interesting interview with a Spotify higher up looking at the spread of Japanese music globally and more.
This video, wherein some guys go out to find the house that Hosono House was recorded in ends in a letdown at least in regards to the primary mission — sorry to spoil, but Hosono’s pad currently exists as a parking lot — but it’s actually a pretty fascinating look at the city that helped shape the album and Hosono. It’s also one of the most unique places in Japan, as it basically houses a “little America,” which most certainly was part of the draw for him.
Fun fact…Sayama is also the birthplace of Family Mart, and you can still visit the first store of that chain today.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Check out the Best Of 2025 Spotify Playlist here!
The current artists on top of the Billboard charts don’t strike me as the kind that benefit from multiple versions of releases or other sales trickery, though this is what ultimately made people burn out on Oricon.