Make Believe Melodies For May 5, 2026

Sakura-Kei Sounds Good, Go With It!

newfn — newfn

The stops along the Seibu-Ikebukuro line provide a sleepy suburban experience parallel to the buzz of Tokyo. Save for maybe the ward center of Nerima, these locales offer big-chain supermarkets, quiet parks and a generally relaxed corner to retreat into when the bustle more associated with JR lines becomes too much. I spent my first few years in Tokyo living in one such enclave — Nakamurabashi, itself just two stops away from trio newfn’s home of Sakuradai.

It’s that neighborhood behind the trio of Yui Hayama, Natsume Kanda and Fuu Tange’s self-created genre of “Sakura-kei,” a riff on the genre-bricolage of Shibuya-kei. But hey, young people avoid that once-trendy area, right? Whatever the status of that place, it makes sense for a group of young artists to emerge from the sleepier (and more affordable) parts of Tokyo, all with the same electronic-based creativity overflowing on the project’s titular debut EP.

While the self-appointed genre nods to the ‘90s, newfn draws from the neo-Shibuya-kei giddiness of the 2000s, with breaks punctuating Technicolor pop maximalism in the mold of EeL or Macdonald Duck Eclair. “Nandemo Ari!!!” serves as the group’s big introduction, skipping ahead on sun-shiny syllables and accented by a playroom’s worth of flair (chimes, bells, swooshes galore) building towards an ecstatic hook. From there every individual member gets a chance to show off a side of themselves, with Hayama delivering a standout with the guitar-powered charge of “Papapa” while Kanda plays with more topsy-turvy plinks and plonks on their “Kawaru.” Tange ends it with the most straightforward bit of catchiness on the sweet idol-ready “Mellow Mellow Mellow.”

What makes newfn much more than just an update on a familiar, manic sound is the modern touches dappling their debut. Internet music culture colors every corner of newfn and adds new sonic textures to that neo-Shibuya-kei base. Familiar club-ready samples pop up alongside melodies reminiscent of Tomggg or Avec Avec, connecting Netlabel approaches with a time preceding it (with what sometimes sounds like Hanna-Barbara cartoon samples, adding to the out-of-time feel). Even the group itself feels very online — it’s not clear if the three members are real people, avatars, characters or what (that they all just appeared online this spring adding to the uncertainty). Even with well-worn touches, newfn are very of the moment…and that can bubble out of any ho-hum corner of Japan. Listen above.

0xygen — Dolla 0xides

Tokyo producer 0xygen, somewhat similarly, uses familiar internet textures and touches but in a more chill manner on their latest release. The songs on Dolla 0xides still rattle along, but the space around the percussion is more open thanks to the artist’s embrace of chopped-up vocal samples and sparser synth arrangements, making even something that approaches dizzying like “CEILING-FLOOR” leaves room to zone out. Get it here, or listen above.

safmusic — slide and escape

A few months after his boisterous MASTERPIECE, safmusic goes lower-case and melancholy on the brief downer dispatch slide and escape. The guitar becomes more central to this sonic journal entry, with safmusic offering downtrodden musings over acoustic strums on “holy night” or going pop-punk to grit his teeth at romantic partners lost on “u married” and the title track. It’s a great snapshot of safmusic’s eclectic sound, deployed here for a lovelorn navigation. Listen above.

Uchu Nekoko — “Flowing In The Wind”

The key to Uchu Nekoko’s dreamy rock is the way reality pokes through the fantasy. New single “Flowing In The Wind” lets guitars and piano swirl around into something that could help one zone out, but the drums alongside vocalist Nemuko Yamanaka’s delivery keep this one in the real world. Get it here, or listen above.

mahziel — “In The Air”

I’m currently in the “oh no I missed so many good releases from M3” state of mind, and this fizzy club anthem courtesy of Shiga producer hails from the WE DIE YOUNG comp Afterlife compilation, which I most certainly did not buy while at the event. A mistake going off of this song, which teases big-tent release but always holds some of its energy back to add to the nervous bounce powering it ahead. Listen above.

Tempalay — “I DON’T WANNA DIE!”

Not too pressed about the dilemma presented in the title, all things considered. That’s the Tempalay way though, teasing theatrics but delivering a more laid-back number with splashes of funk where all the tension comes from the edges. That’s especially true as “I DON’T WANNA DIE” progresses and grows more dissonant deeper within, though the unease never gets to the center. Hey, these guys gotta keep the vibe going. Listen above.

ShowyVICTOR — “Secret”

Rules are rules…if you sample Perfume, you get in the round-up post. Listen above.

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You get one extra post a week…and sometimes they go beyond music, such as my latest for Newspicks, about the way algorithms have become the dominant source of Japanese info in 2026.

Oricon Trail For The Week Of April 20, 2026 To April 26, 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.

INI — PULSE (639,552 Copies Sold)

The singles chart you say, Oricon?

To be fair, this might as well be a single, because “All 4 U” is doing the heavy lifting here. “OURS” is rock music for people afraid of livehouses, “DUM” is just that in how it leans into the most boring boy-group rap flexing (but the chorus is just syllables, look out Outkast!), and “EAT UP” is ASMR annoyance as pop.

“All 4 U” though is great, emotionally hazy dance-pop building up to a heartbeat-racing hook where the words become sonic texture in a tune growing urgent with every second. Lots of drama mixed with club euphoria, and the highest praise I can off it is the raps fit in just right in underlining the rush the song aims to capture. Listen to it…and only it, seriously forget those other three songs…above.

News And Views

• Music Awards Japan announced the nominees for this year’s ceremony on June 13 at a press conference last week. You can see the full list here. As well documented (and as a full disclosure) I assist with English promotion of this event so I won’t dig too deep into this…and I did my takes on a lot of this behind the paywall…but the general feeling I have is it’s a better assortment of nominees than in the initial year (when they opened up the entirety of J-pop history for this) and I mostly don’t have any major gripes EXCEPT WITH “Best Global Hit From Japan” which feels so out of step with what actually connected with people overseas that I’m kind of shocked. Like “On The Way” isn’t there but an old Ado song is? AiScReam couldn’t have gotten a nod but an XG song just squeaking into the eligibility period and which has no actual global presence gets it? In that premium post, I said this would be the category that would piss off the most people…but I didn’t realize it would be ME being the most pissed of.
  

• The STARTO streaming walls continue to crumble as Ae! Group announce plans to release its music on subscription platforms.
  

• PASSPO reuniting, at least for a show.
  

• It is Golden Week here in Japan, a time where people get a lot of days off all at once and can actually indulge in some sweet sweet leisure (hence why this newsletter is a day late). The weather didn’t get the memo, though, and festival Japan Jam had to cancel its Monday programming due to high winds.
  

• J-pop Sound Capsule returns to Anime Expo in LA with a stacked set of anime-related artists.
  

• Mac Demarco just popping up on Japanese TV.
  

• Hatsune Miku collabs with…fishing gear.
  

• Riding a wave of interest off of an appearance on M COUNTDOWN that inspired some of the stupidest discourse I’ve encountered on Twitter in some time…CUTIE STREET share the Korean version of its big viral hit!
  

• Cornelius signs with Eat Your Own Ears for a “new phase.”
  

• King Gnu’s “SPECIALZ” goes golden in the States.
  

• Hoshimachi Suisei and PLAVE, together at last.
  

• Nikkei profiles Tomad of Maltine Records.
  

• In case you ever think Japanese publications don’t know what they are doing, here’s Zakzak stirring the pot up with a thinkpiece about how Japanese artists approach politics. It boils down to highlighting two recent cases of Japanese acts being (or not being) political. At a recent Budokan show, Kyoko Koizumi shared anti-war messages amounting to “stop war.” Meanwhile, in a YouTube livestream several days before that, Sakanaction’s Ichiro Yamaguchi said he wasn’t smart enough to comment on political happenings and he’s just an artist. Two different perspectives!
  
  The actual interesting part of this is Zakzak added new parts to this story after about how much reaction the site’s story was getting…again, Japanese media knows what they are doing.
  

• THE FIRST TAKE delivered two standout sessions in the past week. First was a highlight from one of the biggest animated films of the year so far in Japan. Second was…CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso linking up with members of King Gnu. Truly a channel boasting depth.

Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Check out the Best Of 2026 Spotify Playlist here!