Make Believe Melodies For May 25, 2026
Idol goofiness...ahhhh, I can't hate ya yet!
Ako — lovely moments
Ako aspires to be a big name in modern J-pop, but her hushed singing style guarantees there will always be something just off about her music regardless of how many anime tie-up songs she makes in the years ahead. Her second full-length lovely moments attempts to synthesize trends and references to create a zeitgeist-grabbing work drawing from Aughts-era nostalgia alongside modern marquee players. You don’t even have to listen to pick up on her playbook, she lays it all out in a recent interview citing Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Avril Lavigne, Magdalena Bay and more as inspirations. There’s nothing subtle about her aspirations here.
Yet her singing adds tension, making for a good listening experience (if not perhaps smashing against her Music Station ambitions). Pop-punk balladry and surf-rock pastiche take on an odder texture when Ako’s nearly whispered, higher-register delivery floats like smoke over these tunes. There’s moments of straight-ahead pop charm here (“Love Letter”), but at its best lovely moments finds Ako’s singing offering an odder touch to stabs at cheery J-pop (“Happy Summer Baby”) or replicating Daft Punk-style stutter-pop (“magic,” “Earl Grey”).
In the past, I’ve thought Ako was closer to more underground artists (also owing to her emergence from like, the AVYSS), but her true charm comes into view on lovely moments. She’s eyeing the top, but with very -un-mainstream details turning her pop a touch odder. Listen above.
Various Artists — Highball Presents TREKKIE TRAX
It’s funny to consider TREKKIE TRAX an elder presence in the Tokyo electronic landscape, but that’s exactly what the label / crew is in 2026. The collective celebrates 15 years going in 2027, and a whole generation of artists have emerged in that span inspired by everything TREKKIE got up to starting in 2012. Highball Presents TREKKIE TRAX finds the London label in the title offering an update on where the main players in the label are at today…and touching on its greater influence. You’ve got staples like andrew melding tropical atmosphere over galloping beats on “Liminal Garden,” Carpainter providing pure rumble on “Body Bounce, and Seimei speeding up with a hardcore plunge on closer “Boss It Up.” Yet along the way there’s inclusions from Oyubi and Fetus, creators who emerged in the wake of TREKKIE, along with newer names NirBorna and K8 who add to the sonic tapestry that TREKKIE brought to the capital’s clubs. Get it here, or listen above.
Takuma Matsunaga — imi / oki
An album that’s grown in quality in my mind since it came out in 2024 is Takuma Matsunaga’s Epoch, a brittle electronica daydream punctuated by out-of-body bliss (“Boys Lost In Acid”). Matsunaga returns with a pair of similarly spaced-out meditations, using space and a relatively laid-back tempo to create songs bordering on the surreal. Opener “imi” feels more feverish, with distorted vocals burning on top of a mechanical groove, while “oki” finds Matsunaga’s voice coming across a bit more clearly but the sound around him squiggling and squirming into something off kilter. Listen above.
HUGEN — “kokoro”
Lets stick with the transcendental courtesy of rising outfit HUGEN, a Rookie-A-Go-Go entry at Fuji Rock last year and a project I’ve had multiple people recommend to me in recent months. After listening to “kokoro” I get it. Here sound cascades away from the main vocal, with sudden injections of violin, warped synthesizer, bird chirp and more offering something approaching chaos, and that’s before it starts feeling like chunks of sound star peeling off in its final stretch. Vocalist TP doesn’t stick around for it to come tumbling down, but in the spaces between he adds a human touch that elevates this beyond sound experiment. Listen above.
Amveil — “Merletto”
Everything moves faster nowadays, but are we really ready for 2020s nostalgia? New and fittingly mystery-shrouded project Amveil sounds like a return to the zippy glumness of the start of the decade, with existential lyrics and a general twisty-turny nature hinting at Zutomayo. Maybe I’m not quite ready for that throwback on a spiritiual level…but the zig-zagging drama here sounds great in any context, using dartiness as a way to capture the exhaustion of modrn life with a catchy groove to it. Listen above.
The Bed Town — “Machiawase”
Sturdy bedroom pop from a long-running indpendent project…sometimes it’s that simple! Listen above.
Spinning Plums — “Monochrome Syndrome”
The “algorithim” towers about modern art, the ultimate villain and force pulling the invisible strings guiding taste, at least according to every other blog post on Substack trying to make sense of the world today. I’m not quite bold enough to take a pro-algo position — having been lectured about ways to game the machinations guiding online workings which often amount to “just lie to make people angry,” I recognize how evil it is most of the time — yet when I look at them from the perspective of non-English music finding listeners in the greater world, there’s part of me very sympathetic to it.
Here’s the latest example to cross my YouTube (and tens of thousands of others), Tokyo quintet Spinning Plums’ decivingly cheery “Monochrome Syndrome.” Don’t let the initial brightness get you too much, though, as the lyrics revolve around on memories of a self now lost time, with the color palette making up the hook not exactly sunny. Plus, those seasick keyboards guiding the melody make this feel a little more tipsy than triumph (and also…reminding me of “Vitamin Drop?” OK, I think that’s a me issue, though does make all the “2000s sound!” comments make sense). Worth more praise than just “look, YouTube can be good sometimes,” but shout out to what helped it get more looks. Listen above (or get the band’s EP here).
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For $5 USD a month, you’ll get an extra post every week! Sometimes, it is about legendary popcorn.
Make Believe Bonus: Perfume Produced "LA Cheeseburger Flavored Popcorn"
Trio Perfume pioneered a bunch of musical and stylistic developments during its 25 year career, from popularizing the blown-out sound of bloghouse in J-pop to showing how “Human Tetris” could work in music video form. I don’t think I’m letting my personal fandom slip out too much when I say they were among the most important groups in the country’s recent history.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of May 11, 2026 To May 17, 2026
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.
Bullet Train — “Gachi Muchu!” (470,172 Copies Sold)
I really wanted to be an asshole about this song. I’m in such a bad mood about — redacted J-pop-related work — that I’m hankering for an easy target to get some industry-inspired stress relief in. And here, I thought I found it! From the barrage of guitar chugs and “osu osu osu” chants I was feeling tired, and then the central message of “don’t give up!” came into view. Ptooey, how cliche and expected! Have you not looked at news homepage??? Or my inbox???
Who am I kidding…the relentless energy of “Gachi Muchu!” works, and the total commitment to an upbeat attitude coupled with like taiko interludes and silly piano bridge makes this a blast, even to someone in a truly grumpy place right now. The biggest key is it being another welcome rejection of overly serious male-group sounds, embracing silly enthusiasm over fake-leather-jacket cool (looking at you, latest single from PSYCHIC FEVER…). Even if the central message is a bit elementary school, Bullet Train deliver it with such force and frenzy as to make it stick. Listen above.
News And Views
Arashi announced it will livestream the group’s final show this Sunday via the STARTO “Family Club” site, so geared towards big fans.
All eyes might be on that show, but at the Cannes Film Festival the world turned to a different STARTO name. That would be Snow Man’s Ryota Miyadate, who spun his way into the hearts of people around the globe by displaying a fun personality at the event.
Kenshi Yonezu’s “IRIS OUT” takes “Best Anime Song” at this year’s Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
The Weeknd to sell limited-edition tour t-shirt via Seven-Eleven Japan (or at least the chain’s online store).
An attendee at a recent fan-meeting event for K-pop group SEVENTEEN caught measles, triggering greater worry for those who attended the event.
This Side Of Japan asked friends of the blog to share their best songs of the decade so far…and I took part! An obvious “go read now” if you are…already reading this post.
JASRAC collections grew a lot this year, with streaming now playing a central role (though they are also still collecting from music schools, which made everyone angry a few years ago).
Masayoshi Takanaka announced a domestic tour for this summer.
Cool BBC audio documentary about older Japanese ambient coming soon!
HALCALI back
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Check out the Best Of 2026 Spotify Playlist here!
Your talk of algorithms has finally tipped me over the edge to become a paid subscriber. If you turn out to be an AI bot heaven help me!
The YouTube algorithm is great. I am always happy when some random indie song I recommend has a bunch of English comments with people praising the algorithm because virtually nobody is reading specialized blogs, but everyone is screwing around on YouTube (5 minutes spent watching Ginger Root is 5 less spent hand-wringing about the “manosphere”!)
That said, this is the first time I clicked on the spinning plums video because it was way getting way too pushy!