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Best Japanese Albums of 2024
Written by YumCha! Editorial Team
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&TEAM - Yukiakari
&TEAM provides fresh and sentimental youth anthems for the whole year round with their four seasons concept series in 2024. In the spring, restless hearts and cherry blossoms dance amid the gentle May rain of Samidare. Life is all or nothing in the blue, bright and fearless summer days of Aoarashi. Dreams are shared under the moonlight on that unforgettable fall night in Jyuugoya. Finally, the winter cold can't extinguish the warm flame of hope in the uplifting Yukiakari. Well-conceived and well-executed, &TEAM's new songs this year come together to tell an enchanting story of seasons changing and boys bonding and growing. This album is teen pop done right: fresh-faced pop songs that overflow with youthful energy and emotions plus trendy dance bops with just enough edge like Scar to Scar and Beat the odds.
Ako – GENE
Ako's first major album GENE is a beguiling demonstration of strong softness. The up-and-coming singer-songwriter has a distinctly wispy singing style that approaches whispery, but every word she sings is clear, deliberate and delivered with near monotonic expression. From the free-spirited notes of good morning and sensual beats of "Planet" to the brass flourishes of "All to myself" and mesmerizing electronic undertones of racy, GENE floats airily through alternative, indie pop, retro, funk and rock. Ako's singing style and electric guitar blend into the floaty melodies and intricate instrumentation of her lush songs to create a sense of calm, crimson chaos.
Khamai Leon - IHATOV
Time flies like an arrow through a hazy view from IHATOV when listening to Khamai Leon's exhilarating and intriguing second album. IHATOV – a reference to the utopian fictional landscape that appears in the works of Meiji-era writer Miyazawa Kenji – is a mesmerizing sonic rush of sounds, stories, sensations and sentiments, both electrifying and esoteric in equal measures. Khamai Leon lives up to the band's chameleon name with 11 unpredictable experimental fusions of hip-hop, art rock, jazz, classical, ambient, prog and more. The four-piece band's avant-garde wonderland offers rich textures and constant surprises, from getting lost in a dense forest of sounds in Mori to being whisked by a fervent flurry of piano and flute into a Tokyo illusion in Ihatov.
Mummy-D – Bars of My Life
Rhymester's Mummy-D shares the bars of his life in the first solo album of his 35-year career. The legendary rapper/producer drops truths and rhymes in 12 tracks that detail his personal mantra and hip-hop life that has influenced a generation. In the opening track, Mummy-D reflects on his journey from a shy youth who kept on writing lyrics to the O.G. of Japanese hip-hop. Immediately proving his OG worth, he demonstrates rhythm and flow to the posers in the spitfire rap of the following Mic Motsu Monoyo. Fellow Japanese hip-hop pioneer DJ Krush produces the album's title track Bars of My Life in which Mummy-D lays out his life story year by year. Mummy-D collaborates with other artists including MC ILL-BOSSTINO for Onaji Tsuki wo Miteita, jazz band H ZETTRIO for Free, and singer-songwriter Sakai Yu for the family-referencing Kiss Your Life. For a song that lifts you, the melodic Nijiiro espouses self-love amid piano, strings and dripping water sounds.
Nishino Kana – Love Again
Returning from hiatus with her first studio album since 2017, Nishino Kana may no longer be a gyaru icon for the current generation, but her music is still the epitome of trendy girls' pop. She writes five relatable stories of love in Love Again, boldly declaring the desire for romance in the soaring pop ballad EYES ON YOU and the whimsical city pop bop Into me that digs into laid-back lo-fi vibes. Her R&B style has also become more relaxed and free-flowing with time in the groovy Funny and the low-key crush song Mata Kimi ni Koi wo Suru. 15 ties the years together with a throwback pop-punk teen anthem that rocks out to rebellious young love and angst before concluding with a moment of reflection – "Hey, 20 years have passed since then. I'm looking at the starry night in the world I dreamed of."
Official HIGE DANdism – Rejoice
Official HIGE DANdism gives reason to Rejoice with their album of eminently listenable and resonant pop rock that's all about getting back to what matters in life. Starting with the uplifting Finder, this album lives up to its title with spirited sounds and a positive message that first acknowledges our negative feelings. The band's songs spill out the familiar downcast thoughts and experiences that come with being an adult in modern society, whether it's dealing with everyday despair in Nichijo, drinking away bitterness in Soulsoup or venting resentments in Urami Tsurami Kiwami. The moments sung are small yet vivid, like in Sharon and Catch Ball, giving voice to stories and memories that could be our own. HIGEDAN answers a tiring life with buoyant melodies that take some edge off the troubles. Get Back to Jinsei calls to shed the dissatisfaction and shoulder pain of living by rote – "Let's live our lives while making mistakes and embrace what we feel is worthwhile, even if it's embarrassing."
Perfume – Nebula Romance: Part I
It may be redundant to say that a Perfume album sounds like a Nakata Yasutaka album, but Nebula Romance: Part I REALLY sounds like a Nakata Yasutaka album. The first volume of Perfume's 25th anniversary concept album goes all in on the retrowave to delightful effect. Without any singles or tie-ins on the tracklist, Nebula Romance: Part I flows cohesively with a fun and dreamy blend of synthwave, funk and disco. The mixing, chord progressions and arrangements are wonderfully polished, from the spacey city pop of The Light, IMA IMA IMA and Time Capsule, to the throwbeat disco beats of Cosmic Treat and the ethereal ambience of Jikuuka. As a retro synth concept album, Nebula Romance: Part I is softer and less experimental with effects than other Perfume albums, but this also allows the members to shine more as vocals are quite forward on most tracks. It's a cosmic treat indeed!
Phantom Siita – Girlhood Memories
"All I want is chu-chu-chu-chu, just wanna see your blood blood blood blood." Produced by Ado with a retro-horror concept, new girl group Phantom Siita makes quite the impression with their debut album. This J-idol group with a J-horror twist catches eyes and ears with a danceable dark rock-pop style reminiscent of Ado, but with cleaner arrangements and a more focused overarching sound courtesy of their distinct concept. Each jarringly creepy-cute song on Girlhood Memories employs classic horror tropes and imagery to express the horrors that girls experience and inflict, from the broken friendship of Otomodachi to the body horror of Hanabami to the scary schoolgirl anguish of Just Wanna xxxx With You. Toxic love takes throwback femme fatale form in "Devilish Girl” which distorts a Showa-style love song melody into dangerous obsession, and Zoku Zoku which integrates traditional Japanese music elements.
Sheena Ringo – Carnival
Sheena Ringo threw quite a Carnival in 2024 with a staggering lineup of collaborations for her first new album in five years. Released for the singer-songwriter's 25th anniversary year, Carnival highlights delightfully jazz-steeped collabs with other notable female artists, from "offering sake" with tricot's Nakajima Ikkyu and sharing "cheers beer" with CHARAN-PO-RANTAN's Momo to going full-on diva vocals with AI in "a procession of the living" and Utada Hikaru in "the sun&moon." Equally fun are her playful crossovers with new-generation artists, including Daoko for the whimsical big band-infused "a grand triumphant return" and Atarashii Gakko for the danceable rock jam "FRDP." Of course, Sheena Ringo's new solo numbers further expand her carnivalesque soundscape, adding old-timey orchestral grandeur in "as a human" and Latin flair in the Spanish-language "closed truth."
Yonezu Kenshi – Lost Corner
As Yonezu Kenshi's first album in four years, Lost Corner could easily be filled out just with his hit singles dating back to 2021. The singer-songwriter includes those singles and more for a whopping 20-track album that satisfies the spectrum of his image-laden alternative rock, from stirring and catchy medium-tempo jams like Garakuta and Azalea to more conceptually arranged pieces like "Stop Look Both Ways," POST HUMAN and MARGHERITA + AiNA THE END. Even with half an album of previously released material, Yonezu's distinct style and tone bring artful cohesion to the whole as the tie-in singles are fit carefully into Lost Corner, starting with the hard, dark outcry of RED OUT that leads into the similarly strong-spirited KICKBACK.back number - Atarashii Koibito Tachi ni / BE:FIRST - Masterplan / Creepy Nuts - Bling-Bang-Bang-Born / INI - LOUD / Naniwa Danshi - Koisuru Hikari / Sakurazaka46 - Ikutsu no Koro ni Modoritainoka? / Snow Man - BREAKOUT / Uru - Ambivalent / Vaundy - Time Paraxox / YOASOBI - Monotone |
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Published December 31, 2024
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