Make Believe Melodies For May 13, 2025

Plus: See Me In Chicago This Weekend!

Asami Tono — Paints

Siren For Charlotte has become one of modern Japanese music’s most essential labels, in part because its works feel connected under the banner of “Angelic Post-Shoegaze.” Yet what, exactly, does that sound like? Part of its beauty lies in the ambiguity. From its first compilation onward, “Angelic Post-Shoegaze” has felt less like sonic parameters and more like a feeling of taking a familiar sound — here, shoegaze — and molding it into one’s own image, with the emotional resonance still ringing through. It could be guitar based, powered by Vocaloid, pure noise, whatever…it’s the feeling lurking within.

The latest mutation on the style from the Siren For Charlotte catalog comes courtesy of Asami Tono’s delicate Paints, which turns piano melodies and meditations into something apt for the label.

In the album description, Tono says the album came together based on her own interpretation of the label’s collective theme. The result is a layered, minimal collection built around synth simmer and piano, with Tono’s voice rising above it all to offer simple observations bordering on the abstract. She’s another instrument, blending in with the sound while commenting on nature, color and the fragility of life (save for “Viridian,” the album’s emotional centerpiece, as she speak-sings about the modern world and offers the most raw reflections of self here, with a slight metallic filter to her voice). It exists within the submerged sounds of a marucoporoporo, and at times reminds me of Ichikko Aoba’s latest. Within Siren For Charlotte’s world, there’s nothing quite like it…while still being every bit fitting for it. Get it here, or listen above.

Tomggg — Flow Tides

Electronic artist Tomggg helped to craft the cuddly sounds of 2010s “kawaii bass” via EPs like the energy-rush of Butter Sugar Cream. Yet he’s far more than just a cute creator. Flow Tides reminds of his versatility, making space for the jolly playroom dance many are familiar with (“parkside reflection”) but also highlights a club-born spirit (the shifty dance delirium of “Fire Ball,” the heart-racing Pasocom-Music-Club adjacent dash of “Tickle”) coupled with some experimental detours (the guitar-guided pogo of “Thunder Punch!!!,” which takes a turn to the trippy via bass mutations in its latter half). Tomggg played a major role in shaping sounds from the decade prior…but Flow Tides shows he’s giddy to explore way more spaces. Listen above or get it here.

play in stereo — play in stereo

Both phritz and Weatherson thrive on experimentation, whether from the prior’s more fidgety solo works (and place in J-pop disruptors PAS TASTA), or the latter’s dabbling in fragmented house or more ambient modes. As play in stereo, there’s a straightforward directive — get people dancing. The pair’s debut album offers floor escapism marked by skittering vocal samples and a bouncy pace built for post-COVID nightlife. They have plenty of places to fuck around musically, so play in stereo gives them a safe haven to let loose. Listen above.

Yuri — “Utchai”

The most SOPHIE-like Sasuke Haraguchi has sounded to date. Huge credit to Yuri’s ability to turn words — of which she thinks of a hundred every month to help her and the producer create fragmented J-pop headgames — into sonic shards crashing through the beat backing her up. Listen above.

ayutthaya — “Get Out”

A song that caught me off guard to the point I had to revisit the group’s older work to make sure I had the right band. Nope, this is the same ayutthaya, a project that always let a little fuzz hang around the edges of its indie-pop offerings. Now though, they’ve gotten a smidge heavier, letting the noise consume the melodies more and even having the main vocals get a little more ragged. Despite the second-take it caused, I can still pick up on the band’s knack for melody. It just happens to be buried a little bit. Listen above.

Inner Science And XTAL — “Voices”

Two forces in electronic music excelling at textural delight come together for a particularly glitchy collab. Inner Science and XTAL’s “Voices” thrives on a tension between wooziness and physicality, with the synthesizer swirl being countered by the beat. The Bandcamp offering provides a “beatless version” but that’s superfluous — you need the rhythm to make the electronic swirls all the better. Listen above, or get it here.

STUTS Featuring Kohjiya And Hana Hope — “99 Steps”

STUTS has become something unexpected in Japanese music — an elder statesmen. “Freestyle hip-hop is experiencing a boom right now. I think it is good to have this entry point, for people who didn’t know about hip-hop,” he told me in an interview back in 2017, before adding “But I also am worried people will stop there, and not go forward. “I want to work to change that part.” Mission accomplished — as Japanese rap settles into a new era where it has carved out mainstream space, it’s fair to point towards the MPC-centric producer as a kind of curator to the nation’s sound, with his album’s and singles helping to shine a light on MCs from across the hip-hop spectrum. Now, he’s a respected producer capable of holding down his own spot at the POP YOURS festival, and still helping new voices find attention.

“99 Steps” finds STUTS offering an air-walking beat to rising rapper Kohjiya and singer Hana Hope, who use the melancholy backdrop to reflect on the challenges and excitement of youth. For the two of them, it’s a chance to showcase their skills, but both receive a boost via a STUTS’ beat tightroping between joy and sadness, working with their words to capture what gets lost even when something new looms. For those two artists, it’s a catapult. For STUTS, it’s just where he resides. Listen above.

I’ll Be At Anime Central In Chicago This Weekend!

This newsletter comes to you from Haneda Airport, as I’m about to board a plane bound for Chicago, where I’ll be attending Anime Central both as someone assisting with KAF’s first US show ever and a speaker on a pair of scrmbl-supported panels. On Friday, May 16 I’ll help offer a crash course in Japanese music, and Saturday night I offer insights in Japanese convenience stores. More info here, if you are attending say hi or shoot me a message!

Oricon Trail For The Week Of April 28, 2025 To May 4, 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.

≠ME — “Mob-no-derella / Kamisama No Iu Toori” (182,486 Copies Sold)

One of the reasons social media feels particularly draining in 2025 is age. Simply existing long enough to experience the world coupled with the Sisyphean nature of a site like X means debates that I have personally witnessed played out online dozens upon dozens of times over nearly two decades pop up as “new discourse” regularly. Last week, it was the classic “J-pop vs. K-pop idols” showdown, a point of contention that felt exhausting in 2015, let alone 2025. I will not bore you with the details — I’m going to guess anyone subscribed to this knows the beats, and that half of it teenagers entering this musical ring for the first time — but a central point is boiling down J-pop idols to a certain sort of group, the bubbly school-uniform-sporting type. There’s truth in this of course¹, as the current swell of new upbeat idol groups and songs such as ≠ME “Kamisama No Iu Toori” (above) lean into this one kawaii-tastic lane.

As these things tend to go — and what is nonexistent across social media — is nuance and variety. Sure, ≠ME can do “eeeeek, teenage love!” like the above, but they can also deliver something like the awkward-titled “Mob-no-derella,” showing the emotional range idol-pop contains.

Idols can be miserable!

Here, we get an examination of…I’m not even sure unrequited love is the right term for what’s playing out, more like “completely ignored love.” Against a typically dramatic idol backdrop that actually turns wrenching as the lyrical concerns become clear, our protagonist longs for their “prince” — and has to cope with the fact they are just a silent background character doomed to watch Cinderella take their happy ending. It’s a downtrodden and at times philosophical in its pain (“I know that a happy ending for someone / leads to unhappiness for someone else”). I braced myself for a sudden happy twist, but it doesn’t come. The group wallows in a feeling of eternal extra-dom, and paired with the rush of the music makes for one of the best pop songs of the year, all while reminding of how complicated this space can get. Listen above.

Consider Going Premium!

Help support Make Believe Melodies by going premium, and you’ll get one extra post every week. Even this week, when I’m in Chicago! Last time around, looked at some surprising places idol is blooming.

News And Views

• J-pop heavyweights Arashi, a group currently on hiatus, announced plans to disband in the spring of 2026 following a final tour. Seeing as the outfit proper hasn’t done anything since 2020 it isn’t particularly shocking, but still signals the end of a certain era for the country’s pop landscape. Will also recommend clicking that Japan Times link to see a government official offering commentary on Arashi — the Diet sure always has lots to say about these kinds of acts!
  

• chelmico announced they will be going on hiatus due to member Mamiko Suzuki’s poor health. Though she at least fit one more collab in before the break.
  

• MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN — which, full disclosure, I help with regarding English PR / coverage and which has honestly eaten my life up entirely the last few weeks — announced performers for the Kyoto ceremony on May 22. They include Mrs. GREEN APPLE, YOASOBI, Creepy Nuts, Fujii Kaze and more.
  

• Summer Sonic got good.
  

• Speaking of the venue hosting that summer event in Chiba…officials announced that the current ZOZO Marine Stadium, home to Summer Sonic’s biggest stage while also housing biggie-sized concerts and professional sporting events including the Chiba Lotte Marines, will be demolished and a new version (potentially with roof) will be constructed in a parking lot near Makuhari Messe. I think this is probably a good development, as ZOZO Marine is quite old at this point and feels it. Coupled with growing concerns over climate change making summer events hotter and borderline unsuitable for outside in August, a domed space might be a great development.
  

• Avex shared its 2024 fiscal report, and it’s…a mixed bag? The company saw a decrease in overall sales, but an actual uptick in international growth thanks to a variety of acts, including XG. I find Avex in kind of a crossroads moment, and this report would confirm as such, with positives and negatives to try to figure out moving forward.
  

• By the time you read this, KizunaAI has possibly already performed Swan Lake at Cannes.
  

• I visited the new Apple Music studio in Shibuya to report on international interest in Japanese music for The Japan Times.
  

• I also wrote an intro to Reol at scrmbl.
  

• “New era” J-pop boy group aoen threw out the first pitch at a Saitama Seibu Lions’ baseball game recently.

  Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
  Twitter — @mbmelodies
  Check out the Best Of 2025 Spotify Playlist here!

1. Though, always ignored in these kinds of digital throw downs is that being true of K-pop too. Go watch all the NewJeans’ videos again…notice where those take place?