With a large music industry such as Japan has, second largest in the world, it is inevitable that music fans will be inundated with a profusion of good (and also less good) music from this country. It is impossible to keep track of this and write a review about it per video. But to avoid missing out on gems, it is time for a weekly list of new music videos from lesser-known Japanese musical acts that are definitely worth watching. We are now looking back on a couple of videos that were released in week 20 of the year 2021. Enjoy the new discoveries!
SeaSnow – Cloudy Bay
In July, the Osaka-based band SeaSnow will release their first full-fledged album, titled A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. The members of SeaSnow describe their band as Chameleonic Rock Band. The rock unit started out in the summer of 2020 and tries to incorporates various genres in their music. — Recommended by Francisca
大室ちあ (Chia Omuro) – crush
Singer-songwriter Chia Omuro has been active on YouTube by publishing covers of popular songs, but presented recently her first original song as a digital single and with a music video. In the video, the musician is still mysterious by not showing much of herself with the variation of playful effects. — Recommended by Francisca
LiLY Moratorium – 群星の夜 (Gunjo no Yoru)
Based in Kobe, the young rock band LiLY Moratorium got formed in May of 2018 and consists of three members. At the moment of writing, the band has two EPs and one single on its name. The last-mentioned can be listened to on the major streaming services. The vocalist and guitarist of the band, Tenju, released an acoustic EP last year. — Recommended by Francisca
Unwave – Get Over
The music unit Unwave got formed in the spring of 2017 as a duo. They have released a mini-album soon after starting activities and their first album in 2019. After performing in Tokyo, the members got a taste for the city and decided to move from Sendai. The music unit has been a three-piece for a while, but is now active as a female duo with strong ambitions to expand their activities with their rock sound. — Recommended by Francisca
ヤユヨ (Yayuyo) – おとぎばなし (Fairy tale)
Yayuyo are a four-piece girl’s band from Osaka, active since the start of 2019. The band got formed by high school friends who were part of the light music club at their school, currently, they are all university students. They will release their second mini-album in June. They enjoy playing music without being bound by genre and inspired by everyday life. — Recommended by Francisca
ZUKEDO – ONE
Osaka-based band ZUKEDO recently upped the member count to 6 and it was high time to present the new line-up with a music video. It is said that this band is a super must-see on stage with their high degree of entertainment. You can get a taste-tester by watching the just-released music video where you get introduced by the freedom of the band to add several genres into the song. — Recommended by Francisca
Peeto – MALIBU
The music that rock band Peeto incorporate is a mixture of rock with R&B, City Pop among others. The band describes itself as a culture rock band and they have been active since 2017. After some member changes, the line-up became steady in 2020. They won a grand prix at an audition for No Big Deal Records and have been releasing since then under this label. Their second album, titled GAL, will be out in July. — Recommended by Francisca
Next week we will be back for a new list of new music videos to check out. But you can also look back to the earlier editions of this weekly article series for when you yearn for more musical gems!
