With a large music industry such as Japan has, the 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 43 of the year 2022. Enjoy the new discoveries!
リーブル (Libre) – 楽園 (Rakuen)
Libre are a three-member band featuring two male and one female vocalists Miyu, Yosuke Kinoshita and Kotoya Watanabe. The band expresses different visions of the world in highly expressive ways under the fantasy pop genre, reminiscent of scenes as if you were lost in a fairy tale. Active since the first quarter of 2019, the pop trio has released several singles and a mini-album. Be sure to read this article to the end! — Recommended by Francisca
Suspended – 太陽の下 (Taiyou no shita)
The brains behind the electronic music unit Suspended is multi-talented artist zil’, who launched the solo project in 2017. The new album FAILED is the eagerly anticipated second album from this Tokyo-based solo project. All of the songs were written, composed, arranged, and mixed by zil’ himself. You can expect a wide variety of musical genres, including rock, trap, techno, industrial, and new wave as he presents a poetic world where his own existence, the providence of this world, and the people who come and go are described through the theme of ‘phenomenon’. — Recommended by Francisca
Optlia – Early Believers
Optlia, they are just getting started. The Fukuoka-based metal band released their debut single this summer as they only started earlier this year, and it was this week that they unveiled their first music video for the song Early Believers. What more can be said about this band? Currently the band consists of two members, vocalist and lyric writer Kiyokaze (Coll, ex-aint) and composer Nekoj!ma (Æther), they developed their own distinctive worldview based on diverse musical roots, including metalcore, hip-hop, pop, and post-rock as a result of their involvement in other band projects. — Recommended by Francisca
ナンカノユメ (Nanka no Yume)- 心海 (Shinkai)
The band Nanka no Yume came together in spring 2019 after the band members met through a website for finding band members, and since then they have only been busy making new music and performing. After releasing its very first single in the summer of the same year, the Osaka-based pop-rock band came out with an album in spring 2020. Currently, the band consists of two regular members, vocalist 841 and guitarist Daishi with a number of support musicians. With their radiant voices, melody lines and sparkling guitar sound, their music is based on Japanese pop and rock music from the 1990s and 2000s, which in turn provides some nostalgia. Soon, the indie band will have their first-ever one-man show at Osaka’s ROCKTOWN. — Recommended by Francisca
sugar me – Independent
It’s been a while since we saw a new music video of singer-songwriter Ayumi Teraoka’s solo project, sugar me. A new video suddenly popped up, for the song Independent, found on a 7-inch split release from 2018. Since that release, she has released several records, most recently a 2020 album titled Wild Flowers. She can sing in three languages—English, Japanese, and French—and is well-known for her pop-acoustic style and crystal-clear, freely moving vocals. — Recommended by Francisca
Subway Daydream – The Wagon
Following the release of their first EP Born in 2021, Osaka-based alternative rock band Subway Daydream released several singles, with The Wagon being the most recent. The music video for this track depicts the universal concepts of ‘journey’ and ‘friendship’, which are also the themes of the song, and tells the story of the main character, a boy, and his encounters and interactions with an alien that has arrived on Earth. The sound of the band is best characterised as nostalgic and conjures up pop and alternative rock from the 1980s and 1990s. — Recommended by Francisca
キンヨウノヨル (Kinyou No Yoru) – 楽園 (Rakuen)
We begin and end with a music video with the same title, Rakuen, but not the same music and musicians. Kinyou No Yoru are a two-piece alternative rock band formed in 2016 in Saitama that sings about their daily thoughts on a sound influenced by a variety of music genres. With their signature high-pitched vocals and a sound created as a twang, vocalist and guitarist Sayuri and drummer Mie throw emotions straight to the heart. The duo will release their first-ever EP in January after releasing a single and several mini-albums. — 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! Want to read more about how this project started or check out the YouTube playlists? Click here for all the information.
