The J-Music Advance Party (August 2024)
A gust of new releases headed your way.
Greetings! Welcome to this month’s J-Music Advance Party! I see a couple of familiar faces making their way to their seats already, but if we haven’t met yet, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Leap, and as always, I will be your master of ceremonies for tonight. You might be wondering ー
What is The J-Music Advance Party?
The J-Music Advance Party is a monthly publication where I discuss bands and artists I plan on listening to this month. I recommend them to you in advance of their upcoming albums and releases, akin to an album “pre”-launch party..
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.
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Last month saw the highest number of new subscribers which I was so incredibly happy for. Welcome to all you new Party-goers!
▸ 汐れいら (ushio reira)
First up to the stage is singer-songwriter Ushio Reira, who shares with us her unique worldview and approach to creating music.
She describes the main concept of her music as “(songs) for someone, somewhere in this world”. Though she doesn’t really expound on it further, we can try to infer what she meant in an interview that she had with USEN encore, where she goes over her experiences as a busker. In it she talks briefly about her songwriting, and how she sees her misfortunes as that which fuels her artistry, believing (in jest) that the more unfortunate she is, the better her songs turn out. That no matter how bad the situation is, she can try to find good meaning in these experiences which she then uses to write her songs (she jokes that if she can write better songs the happier she got instead, she would be unstoppable). It’s a tongue-in-cheek sort of response, but it does provide us a glimpse of her character and where she’s coming from.
She aims to write songs that people can relate to. While they may not resonate with everyone, they are meant for someone, somewhere in this world, dealing with the same things she’s singing about. Take, for example, her debut single Sayonara CITY, which goes out to those who are unable to express themselves out of fear of going against the grain. She further adds that she wrote that song because she herself was afraid of being similarly criticized for not doing what’s expected of her. At the same time, she contemplates how “killing” both her real as well as her online self by conforming to the norm isn’t a life worth living. So she chooses to confront things head on, and instead threatens to leave and come to hate the figurative “city” for not changing with the times.
Ushio Reira exemplifies this steadfast and headstrong attitude even back during her days as a high school student, wherein she would join her school’s light music club for the sole purpose of overcoming her stage fright. Interestingly enough, it was by joining this club where she would come to realize that rather than being a copy band that only does song covers, she found it more fun to create her own songs. She also had interest in writing stories, particularly those depicting different sorts of main characters. To that end, she applied for and joined the literature program of an art college, further bolstering her means of expression that is her songwriting. Now still only just 21 years of age, the Tokyo-born Ushio Reira is equipped and more than ready to take on the next stages of what’s looking to be a very promising music career ahead of her in earnest.
Ushio Reira is set to release her first EP No One on August 14, 2024.
▸ ブランデー戦記 (Brandy Senki)
Up next is three-piece rock band from Osaka, Brandy Senki.
Sometimes a Japanese band/artist, for one reason or another, will randomly have a song of theirs that just do tremendously well on streaming platforms. It could be a combination of factors: perhaps a more established band/artist mentioned it in an interview, or TikTok/Instagram featured it in a viral reel, or maybe the YouTube and Spotify algorithms brought it to people's attention. For Brandy Senki, it seems as though *all* of these ended up happening for their debut single Musica (linked above), which, after having come out in 2022 now sits comfortably at close to 5 million views on YouTube. In contrast, their follow up single Kids comes up at to five-hundred thousand. Now, granted, that’s still a respectable number (if not even a desirable one, especially for bands just starting out like Brandy Senki) but it does pale in comparison.
From what I was able to glean when I first looked into it back when I featured the band in one of my monthly Roundups, the song got a huge leg up thanks to a local radio station featuring it in one of its programs. The PV would break its first million views within only just a month of being uploaded. The band attribute the video’s likeability to the DIY nature of its production, with all the footage of the band’s daily life used in it being shot and edited by the band members themselves, which gave it a sense of authenticity. Fans would also note their appreciation for the band’s songwriting, praising lines such as “classic wo wakaru you ni nattara kekkon shite kureru” (“will you marry me when I’m able to understand classic (music)”) for its cleverness in being able to succinctly put into words the melancholy of falling in love with someone much older whilst still relating it to music.
I was lampshading it a bit already, but in as much as Brandy Senki has enjoyed the residuals of their debut single blowing up the way it did with their aforementioned sophomore single getting up to half a million views as I mentioned, the band has yet to come out with a song that’s even remotely close to Musica’s popularity. While subsequent PVs of theirs thereafter still continued to get up to six figures in view counts, the actual number is fewer than the last, with their most recent PV for Stockholm no Hako (linked) only clocking in at a hundred and fifty thousand (which, again, is still better than most really). As is always the other side to a viral hit, the onus is on the band/artist to follow it up. That being said, I think it’s fair to say that Musica was a lightning-in-a-bottle type of deal where a lot of things just aligned perfectly for it to become as widespread as it was. Of course, that’s also not to say that Brandy Senki can’t produce those kinds of view counts ever again, and that starts with not being deterred and continuing to release new music.
Brandy Senki is set to come out with second EP 悪夢のような1週間 (akumu no you na isshukan), which comes out on August 21, 2024.
▸ MindaRyn
The Party’s just getting started, as the uncrowned anison queen now takes the stage; Natcha Pongsupanee, better known as MindaRyn.
It’s honestly quite impressive what the Thai native has since been able to achieve for herself in the amount of time that it took to get to where she is now, as one of the most highly touted anison performers in recent memory. Starting out as an anison cover artist based out in her home country of Thailand (with her earliest upload dating as far back as 2016), MindaRyn (pronounced as /mai-da-rin/) would quickly amass an international following in large part owing to her covers featuring fan-favorite anison titles such as Sparkle from the original soundtrack of the widely acclaimed Kimi no na wa, as well as the iconic Unravel by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure. She would also regularly feature songs by longtime anison stalwart LiSA (to whom she appears to be modelling her artistic career towards), with her cover of the award-winning Gurenge still remaining to this day as her most popular sitting at 11 million views.
While her covers did generally well, if not even above average, MindaRyn was also herself an aspiring singer-songwriter wanting to pursue a career as a Japanese music artist. To that end, she would actually move to Japan in 2020, where she was then readily signed by music label Lantis whom had already been familiar with MindaRyn through her performances. She would in short order make her artist debut that same year with the anime tie-up single BLUE ROSE knows, which was used as the ending theme for the anime series By the Grace of the Gods. The rest as they say, is history, as MindaRyn would now go on to be a regular presence in the anison world, now averaging three tie-ups per year.
Of course, it’s definitely her charisma and her singing prowess to go along with it first and foremost that ultimately got her to this position, but I’d be remiss to remind everyone (as she does do a good job at making you forget whenever she performs) that though she is fluent, Japanese isn’t even her mother tongue. Granted, that’s not necessarily a requirement, nor is the Japanese music industry specifically gatekeeping non-native artists from performing Japanese music (Chinese singer Liyuu being another prime example who, interestingly enough is also signed under Lantis). But I digress. MindaRyn has since made a name for herself as an anison stalwart in her own right, and with the release of her most recent tie-up single Miracle soup (linked above) showcasing a more subdued style that we haven’t really heard from her prior, she has shown that she’s still growing as an artist.
MindaRyn will be coming out with her second album Across Miles on August 21, 2024, where I’d be curious to see if she added any more new wrinkles to her artistry.
▸ （夜と）SAMPO ((yoru to) SAMPO)
Rounding out the second half we have the band made up completely of office workers (I kid you not), (yoru to) SAMPO.
Whether or not this is in fact true is beyond me, and probably requires knowing the band members personally. That being said however, I am inclined to believe their claim. If anything else, it does explain the level of activity that the band had shown ever since they commenced their band activities in 2019 with the release of their self-titled debut single Yoru to Sampo, where within a three year span the band was only able to follow up with an EP (Nostradamus, 2021), a mini-album (Hadaka no Sekai, 2022), and a handful of singles in between them. Granted, it would’ve been around this time that the entire world, not just Japan, was dealing with something more pressing than creating new music in the form of the global COVID19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the band was still able to garner attention, particularly the Kansai region from which they all originate. Not only that, (yoru to) SAMPO would also go on to win the eo Music Try 20/21 Grand Prix music contest, which notably had representatives of major record companies comprising its jury.
Suffice for it to say, the band was at a good spot to make something of the opportunity they made possible for themselves. However, despite all of that, the band would instead go on a brief hiatus. In an interview with Kansai Pia, the band talk about the period of inactivity following what appeared to be their biggest break and how it allowed for them to reassess their work thus far as well as each member’s commitment to pursuing a professional career in music. After nearly two years of careful planning and deliberation on how to proceed, (yoru to) SAMPO made a comeback in late 2023 with their media debut single Henshin, now signed as a band under Warner Music Japan.
(yoru to) SAMPO’s credo is “you don't have to throw something away in order to choose something else”. I think it’s safe to assume that this is in reference to the band members all for the most part already having established careers as company workers. They want their music to inspire those in the workforce like them. That they too might think to pursue their dreams, and that one doesn’t have to quit their day job in order to do something that they want to do for themselves. They specifically want those who are a year into their first job, as well as those who just started, to look towards them, referring to themselves as a guiding star for company workers who wish to live their life to the fullest. It’s an uplifting message at the very least, and perhaps a much needed one considering the “salaryman” connotation within Japan’s workforce. Perhaps (yoru to) SAMPO can change this mentality of devoting everything to one’s work with their songs.
We’ll see if that’s the case with the release of the band’s first full album モンスター (monster) on August 28, 2024.
▸ トゲナシトゲアリ (togenashi togeari)
Last up to the Advance Party stage is TOGENASHI TOGEARI, fresh off the much awaited airing of the original television anime series, GIRLS BAND CRY.
To say that there was a ton of hype that had been generated in the lead up to the eventual premiere of GIRLS BAND CRY is… an understatement. At the very least, when the official “GBC” YouTube channel put out the PV for Namonaki Nanimo Kamo back in May of last year with nary an explanation as to what kind of project it was going to be other than it being an anime. It didn’t help that said PV didn’t really come with an announcement as to when this supposed show was even going to air, or even if it was gonna come out on television at all for that matter. Viewers who had chanced upon the video though (myself included) were intrigued nevertheless. Something to note is that this project was announced in a post-Bocchi The Rock! world, with reception towards band-themed anime (alongside band-related 2D/2.5D multimedia projects such as that of Bushiroad’s BanG Dream!) seemingly at an all time high following its success both in Japan and even worldwide.
Suffice for it to say, if anything else, whether by sheer luck or happenstance GBC couldn’t have come out a better time. Each song that was released thereafter by the project’s “main” band TOGENASHI TOGEARI were all similarly received (that is to say, generally positive), further feeding into fans’ anticipation; something that would reach a fever pitch with the release of Hazete Saku that same year, which gave fans a clearer picture of what to expect with regard to the show and its characters. GBC would continue to take it slow though, with the series devoting time to let fans get familiarized with the members of “TOGETOGE” through character introduction videos. It wouldn’t be until towards the end of 2023 that we would get an official announcement of when the show would air. In that time, the band had come out with more than a decent handful of singles to their name and even an album (albeit one comprised mostly of said singles).
GBC has since officially wrapped and for the most part the project was able to make good on what was essentially a year’s worth of promises and then some; delivering an endearing and at times realistic tale of youths trying to make it as a Japanese indie band. I feel like this is an important distinction than it is just a descriptor for TOGETOGE, as the music they have come out with (before, and even during the show’s run) does in fact invoke a similar vibe, and is really what made me gravitate (and I’m sure for others as well) towards the project more so than its being an anime venture. That is to say, since the beginning, the songs that they made were pretty much in the same vein as the ones I listen to on a regular basis. There’s a “rawness” to it, which, I attribute mostly to the fact the that the voices behind the members of TOGETOGE are both also the ones who play the instruments and perform the songs and in that sense are themselves just starting out as a band.
The project will be coming out with its second album this month, and while I do anticipate it to mostly contain songs that were featured in the anime (most, if not all of which have been just straight bangers), the hope is that it also comes with at least a good couple of album originals for our troubles. 棘ナシ (togenashi) is set to come out on August 28, 2024.
That’s gonna do it for the J-Music Advance Party for August!
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 listen these next couple of weeks? Let me know all of that down in the comments!
The usual Advance Party will not be held next month. HOWEVER, a *special edition* of the Advance Party will instead take its place. Sign up to get notified when it comes out!