The J-Music Advance Party (April 2025)
This month's releases are no joke.
Hello there! Hope it wasn’t too hard to find parking (JK 😋). As always, glad you can join us this evening for the J-Music Advance Party! If you’ve been an attendee at least once before, I’m sure you have a pretty good grasp already of what tonight’s festivities entail, so by all means please proceed down on over to the events area down below. I’ll be joining you guys there momentarily.
However, if this is your first time being a Party-goer, please allow me a couple minutes of your time to explain to you ー
What is The J-Music Advance Party?
The J-Music Advance Party is a monthly publication where I quite simply talk about bands and artists that I personally plan on listening to this month (and subsequently recommend that you too as well) in advance of their upcoming albums and releases in the style of a an album “pre”-launch party of sorts.
These could be bands who have an album coming out that I’m excited for, or they could also be an artist whose discography I feel warrants further exploring starting with their new EP.
Whatever the case may be, these are releases that I’m both looking forward to and that I hope to put on your guys’ radar if they weren’t there already.
Make sure to subscribe to the newsletter if you haven’t yet by hitting the button underneath and secure your invite for all Parties moving forward!
I genuinely get a little spark of joy every time I see our little crew grow. At the rate we’re going, we might just have to start looking into a bigger venue soon. 😄
▸ 水槽 (“suisoh”)
Getting the Party started for us this month is suisoh! (HURRY UP baby!)
suisoh’s rise to prominence has been a pretty fascinating one to watch, especially when you consider where it all started. For those unfamiliar, suisoh initially made waves as an “utaite”; that is, a cover artist within the Nico Nico Douga sphere. While they had already begun dabbling in original material, it was their take on SEVENTHLINKS’ p.h. that really launched them into the spotlight. That particular cover ended up going massively viral across social media, and people were quick to latch onto suisoh’s effortlessly cool vocal and rap delivery. To date, the cover boasts a combined total of 30 million views and streams and counting. More than anything, that initial burst of attention really helped open the floodgates for suisoh, bringing in new listeners just as they were hitting their stride creatively. Since then, they’ve been churning out original songs at a blistering pace, whether it's solo tracks, more covers, or collabs with other singers and producers. And somewhere along the way, suisoh also started flexing their chops as a producer, crafting beats for other artists. Their now-signature producer tag, “suisoh, HURRY UP baby.” has quickly become somewhat of a seal of approval, a signal to fans that they’re shortly about to be treated to an absolute banger of a track.
suisoh’s rise to mainstream recognition hit a major milestone in 2024 when they made their anison debut with a track featured as one of the ending themes for the hugely popular BLEACH with the song MONOCHROME (linked above).
What I find especially intriguing though is that, despite their increasing popularity that would otherwise subsequently lead to a natural shift towards a more mainstream pop sound, they’ve chosen to embrace a completely different path. They seem to have become more immersed in production, with a growing focus on Japan’s underground electronic/DTM (desktop music) scene. Their one-man live DJ sets are a testament to this shift, and their recent collaboration with producer lilbesh ramko, who is starting to carve out his own space in that world, only reinforces the direction they’re heading. suisoh’s upcoming album, FLTR (which stands for "from laptop to rooftop"), seems like an explicit nod to this new chapter in their artistry. The title alone referencing the idea of their DTM tracks blasting from rooftops, reverberating through the streets. Given my recent deep dive into Japanese glitchcore and hyperpop, I’m particularly excited to hear what they’ll bring to the table with this release.
suisoh’s fourth album FLTR is set to release on April 9, 2025!
▸ SWALLOW
Let’s give a warm round of applause for our friends from the northern regions of Japan, SWALLOW coming to us all the way from Aomori!
I first stumbled onto SWALLOW through a Spotify recommendation sometime in 2023 and immediately found myself thinking, how am I only hearing them now? That feeling only deepened once I looked them up and realized they’d already been putting out music for a while, with their debut single SWALLOW having dropped all the way back in 2020. Digging a little deeper, I found out the Aomori-based trio had actually been active as a band since 2017, originally going by the name “No Title.” That same year, they went on to win the grand prize at the LINE Audition 2017; competition for up-and-coming bands hosted by LINE Corporation, which earned them a full record deal with LINE RECORDS. Since then, in a span of three or so years, they’ve released a solid ten singles, culminating in their first full-length album 温室育ち (onshitsu sodachi) in 2023. Since then, however, the band’s activity has noticeably slowed down. SWALLOW only put out two singles in 2024; a pace that, while not exactly indicative of inactivity, does pale in comparison to their output in, say, 2022, where they dropped five singles over the course of the year.
What’s interesting, and perhaps telling, is that following the release of their debut album, every single they’ve put out since has been an independent release.
Could be a number of things, really. Maybe the contract they had with LINE RECORDS was only for a set period, or perhaps there were stipulations in the agreement that required them to put out a certain number of songs within a given timeframe. Something else worth noting, and possibly connected to all of this, is that the band seems to have since relocated back to their hometown in Aomori. That’s now their main base of operations, and they’ve been pretty active locally, hosting their own radio show and podcast on the regular. In the lead-up to SWALLOW’s upcoming first EP, the band’s been pretty open about how they see themselves as migratory birds; no matter how far they fly, there’s always this instinctual pull to return home. It’s clear they have a deep love for their hometown, and I can’t help but feel like this release (fittingly titled Northern Blood) is a reflection of that very feeling; essentially a love letter for the place they came from. There’s honestly something really touching about artists grounding themselves like that. I’m sure their fans in Aomori must feel the same way if not more.
SWALLOW’s first EP Northern Blood is set to release on April 16, 2025.
▸ 蒼山幸子 (aoyama sachiko)
Our next performer is one very near and dear to my heart; please give it up for Aoyama Sachiko!
Back in the December 2024 issue where I had the chance to talk about former NEGOTO bassist Masuda Mizuki (now going by miida) and her band’s second mini-album, I touched on just how big a fan I am of NEGOTO and how pivotal they were in shaping the way I listen to and appreciate Japanese music today. And while Masuda definitely played just as big a role in that as the rest of the band, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t vocalist/keyboardist Aoyama Sachiko who really pulled me in. As the band’s frontwoman and chief voice of the group, she was the one who truly kicked off what would eventually become my full-blown fascination with NEGOTO’s sound. As gutted as I was when NEGOTO announced their disbandment, I was just as overjoyed, when I found out not long after that Aoyama would be continuing on with a solo music career. Granted, at the time, I’m pretty sure a lot of fans (myself included) didn’t necessarily know what that necessarily entailed. We only really knew her from her work with NEGOTO after all.
It wouldn’t be until she released her first solo track that we’d start to get a clearer picture of what her artistry would look like moving forward. For me personally, it actually ended up confirming a longstanding theory I had about NEGOTO’s sound all along.
That is to say, I’ve always had this hunch that Aoyama was the main creative driving force behind NEGOTO, steering the ship, so to speak, when it came to their musical direction. Folks who were following their journey back then might remember the gradual shift the band underwent, with their sound leaning more and more into electronica as the years went on. While this ended up being divisive among fans, I and I’m sure a lot of others grew a fondness for it. I always chalked that evolution up to Aoyama, especially since she was the one primarily working the synths. Lo and behold, she ends up carrying a lot of that same musical sensibilities into her solo work, which, at times, feels like a direct continuation to NEGOTO. If Yuurei no Koi (linked above) is anything to go by, it seems that still holds true as we head into the release of her upcoming second full album.
かがやきの虜 (kagayaki no toriko) is set to release on April 16,2025. For a limited time, ROCKET EXPRESS is offering a pre-order bonus of an alternate album jacket signed by Aoyama Sachiko for site members. Check it out if you’re interested!
▸ Aooo
Right up next, welcome back to the Advance Party stage, Aooo!
Aooo now holds the honor of being the very first band to make a return appearance here on the J-Music Advance Party, after having already been featured in the October 2024 issue where we talked about their debut album. Full transparency, when I first came up with this series, the original plan was to always highlight a fresh set of bands and artists each month. I thought, “Hey, if I can mostly pull that off with the Monthly Recommendation Roundup over on my blog, I should be able to do the same here, right?” But as it turns out, there’s a key difference between the two. The Party involves way more foresight than the Roundup ever really does, which, by design, tends to be a lot more “in the moment.” The whole idea behind the Party is that I highlight releases I’m genuinely excited to check out for myself, which, naturally, means I’m going to be more hyped about upcoming drops from bands and artists I already know and love. Plus, I figured it’d feel a little disingenuous if I started listening to a band just so I could say I’m looking forward to their next album. But I digress.
Long story short, Aooo, who I was initially amped for because of their existing lineup of talent (though mainly the inclusion of former Akaiko-en vocalist Ishino Riko who I’m a huge fan of), are back here in relatively quick turnaround considering they released their self-titled debut album not even a full six months ago.
That said, I’m honestly even more hyped for this next release than I was the first time around, mainly because now I’ve actually seen what Aooo can do. And if Fragile Night (linked above) is any indication, it really feels like they’re stepping things up. Which I know sounds kind of wild considering how strong they came out the gate already, but there’s this added layer of cohesion in the new track that wasn’t quite there before, when it still felt a little like each member was just doing their own thing. That said, I do still love how they’re seemingly continuing that rotating approach to composing, with this one in particular being composed by bassist Yamamoto Hikaru. The rest of the tracks on the four-song EP have yet to be revealed, though I surmise that since there are four members we might be getting songs composed by each one of them. I, for one, can’t wait to hear what the others have cooked up.
Aooo’s first EP Fooocus is set to release on April 16, 2025.
▸ Charlotte is Mine
Last to the stage, let us all welcome the return of Charlotte is Mine!
We’re calling it a return here because, up until nana furuya (vocalist, composer, and now sole steward of what used to be the Charlotte is Mine duo) announced this upcoming EP, it had actually been a little over a year since we last heard from her following the band’s shift into a solo project. Now, to be fair, a year of relative quiet isn’t exactly headline material when you consider how artists can stay active in plenty of other ways beyond just dropping new tracks. That said, with Charlotte is Mine specifically, it was hard not to wonder, at least for me, if furuya had maybe quietly stepped away from the project altogether. Especially considering the context: her decision to carry on solo after guitarist koji sugiyama’s departure always felt sudden, and as far as I know, we never really got the full story behind their parting of ways. Whether things ended on good terms or not remains somewhat of a mystery, though of course, I would hope it to be a case of the former.
Add to that the irregular release pace since then: two singles in 2022 (Barefaced and Heart Out) and then radio silence until 2024’s Wilderness (linked below); and you can kinda see how it started feeling like the project was tapering off.
furuya herself has mentioned that this EP has been five years in the making for her and everyone involved, which, when you trace things back to the release of Barefaced and Heart Out, actually checks out. The idea that this is the culmination of all that time and creative energy is honestly pretty exciting. What’s more, beyond the tracks we already know are making the cut (basically all of Charlotte is Mine’s post-duo singles) we’re also being treated to two brand new songs in 1992 and Yours. Both sound incredibly promising judging from the teaser we got not too long ago. And as a nice bonus, we’re getting an English version of Wilderness as well, which I’m personally pretty stoked to hear in a new light.
Night Flight will be dropping in physical stores on April 18, 2025, BUT the EP will be available for streaming earlier on April 9, 2025. As a special offer, Charlotte is Mine will be giving out signed copies if you pre-order the EP on their homepage. Don’t wait!
That’s gonna do it for the J-Music Advance Party for April!
Here’s a quick recap of all the releases featured for this month:
Which release are you most excited for this month? Likewise, which bands and artists are you looking to pick up and listen to these next couple of weeks? Let me know all of that down in the comments!
Before I let you guys go, just a quick heads-up to those who didn’t know; I’m actually part of CD Japan’s affiliate program! So if you’re planning to purchase or pre-order a physical copy of any of these albums listed below, I’d really appreciate it if you used my CD Japan affiliate links 😁
The next Advance Party is gonna be on May 4, 2025 Are you looking forward to any releases next month? Check back here to see if they get featured!