Hello! Welcome back from the holidays, and welcome to the start of another exciting year of Japanese music releases here at the J-Music Advance Party! If you’ve been to one of these gatherings before, you probably already know the best spot for your ideal view—so feel free to head on down to the events area, and I’ll catch up with you all shortly. But if this is your first time joining us here at the Party, let me take a minute or two to explain how things work here—
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 or EP 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 upcoming release. 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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We wrapped up 2024 with more Party subscribers than I ever expected—here’s to doubling our attendees (or even surpassing that!) in 2025!
▸ tuki.
Kicking off this new year of the Advance Party, we have the very talented tuki.!
Still in high school, tuki. started as a familiar presence on TikTok, sharing acoustic renditions of popular Japanese songs. Her deep, resonant voice—remarkably mature for her age—quickly captured the hearts of listeners. At just thirteen years old, she made her mark as a singer-songwriter when she shared a snippet of her original track Bansanka (then untitled) on the platform. The song gained traction as she released it in parts, going viral and becoming a favorite for covers and videos across TikTok. On September 29, 2023, Bansanka saw its official single release, and in early 2024, it topped both the Oricon Combined Singles Chart and Billboard Japan Hot 100 for a week in January. The now fifteen-year-old high school phenom also achieved a historic milestone, becoming the youngest solo artist in Billboard Japan history to surpass 100 million music streams.
Her success isn’t limited to streaming platforms either. The PV for Bansanka is nearing 100 million views on YouTube, while her other releases have all comfortably surpassed a million streams and views each. With her meteoric rise, tuki. has already cemented herself as a breakout star in Japan’s music scene.
I surmise that much of tuki.’s appeal, beyond her captivating vocals, lies in her knack for slow J-pop ballads. It’s a style you don’t often associate with artists in her demographic, making her performances feel wise beyond her years—an impression heightened by the rich, mature tone of her voice. That being said, while tuki. might come across as something of an old soul in this regard, she’s also shown a playful, youthful side to her music. Tracks like Inferno Love Letter and HYURURIRAPAPPA bring a noticeably faster, more energetic vibe, showcasing her versatility as an artist.
Said versatility is in fact what actually has me looking forward to her first full album the most, boasting five new original songs. I’d wager these tracks will be a continued showcase of what she’s already proven she’s capable of. The again, I wouldn’t be too surprised if she adds a couple new dimensions to her artistry in this album. Despite her accolades, tuki. is still a young and evolving artist, and it’s likely she has plenty more to offer as she continues to grow.
tuki.’s first full album 15 was released on January 8, 2025. You can now stream it here on Spotify!
▸ りりあ。(riria.)
Up next, please welcome to the Advance Party stage, the one and only riria.!
When I was first deciding which artists to feature for the January Advance Party, I couldn’t help but find it both interesting and amusing that we have tuki. and riria. releasing albums in the same month. The two share strikingly similar origins and trajectories as J-pop artists. Like tuki., riria. got her start uploading acoustic song covers on TikTok, before her original track Uwaki Saretakedo Mada Sukitte Kyoku went viral among Japanese youth. The song’s success propelled her to 1.3 million TikTok followers (and counting), mirroring the kind of breakout popularity tuki. achieved with Bansanka.
One key difference between the two, though, lies in their vocal qualities. While fans gravitate toward tuki.’s warmer, mature-sounding voice, riria. offers a clear and bright tone that feels much more reflective of her age in comparison. This youthful timbre lends her songs a lifelike and heartfelt quality, creating a distinct charm in her songs that for the most part is uniquely her own.
Following her official debut in 2022 under the TOYS FACTORY subsidiary VIA— a label focused on streaming-oriented artists—riria. has since become one of J-Pop’s breakout stars of this generation. She’s had a pretty involved anime tie-up with the Netflix original movie Bubble, with her song Jaa ne, mata ne being used as the film’s ending theme (on top of also voicing one of the movie’s main characters, as well as having performed an accompanying feature for the movie’s opening theme alongside fellow singer-songwriter Eve). She also performed the opening themes for the anime TV show Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon. In addition to that, riria. has also had a fair number of tie-ups with Japanese drama, notably the opening theme for the 2024 live action adaptation of Ano ko no Kodomo, Nee, Chanto Kiiteru?.
Suffice it to say, riria.’s star has been on a steady rise, and I can only imagine that the release of her first full-length album will only elevate her further. My only concern, though, is that with such a sizable discography leading up to this point, we are getting a release that’s comprised mostly of tracks she’s already released prior. Based on the official crossfade for the album, of the whopping seventeen tracks that will be on it, only three of them will be album originals—something worth keeping in mind. That being said, of those three, Shoukyo., has me particularly excited as it’s a collaboration with Vocaloid producer Picon, who I’m a huge fan of.
riria.’s first full album 軌跡 (kiseki) is set to release on January 15, 2025.
▸ Dios
The Party is just heating up, so please put your hands together for our next performing act, Dios!
Just three months after dropping their Gasoline EP in October 2024, the powerhouse trio Dios are already gearing up for another release this January, paired with a five-city tour across Japan. For those unfamiliar, Dios is a band project spearheaded by rapper, producer, and singer-songwriter Tanaka—formerly known as Boku no Lyric no Boyoumi. Active in the Japanese music scene since 2012, Tanaka initially made a name for himself as an utaite on the popular video platform Nico Nico Douga. In 2019, he officially retired his Boku no Lyric no Boyoumi persona, citing no particular reason beyond thinking it would be "funny."
However, his hiatus from music was short-lived. That same year, Tanaka resurfaced, performing at events and even forming the rap unit Gorilla Attack. In 2021, Tanaka officially formed Dios, teaming up with keyboardist, fellow producer, and longtime collaborator sasanomaly, as well as world-renowned guitarist Ichika Nito.
Dios’ sound is perhaps a perfect reflection of Tanaka’s free-spirited and whimsical nature—impossible to pin down to a single style. This intentional fluidity lies at the core of the band’s philosophy, driven by a desire to create “something that wavers, unique to the moment, every single minute and second,” rather than crafting “something with fixed charm or beauty that appeals to everyone all the time.” With the combined breadth of experience and technical expertise shared between Tanaka, sasanomaly, and Ichika Nito, their work as together as Dios have more than proven their ability to bring this vision to life.
I don’t expect their upcoming EP to stray from this approach, though at the same time, calling it anything but different might be an understatement—albeit in an entirely different sense and I look forward to their next machination.
Dios’ third EP 脱構築β (dastukouchiki β) will be coming out in January 15, 2025.
▸ カネヨリマサル (kaneyorimasaru)
Please give a warm welcome to our next performing artist here on the Advance Party stage, Kaneyorimasaru!
This three-piece band from Osaka first began activities (in their current lineup) back in 2018 with their first indie release coming the year after in the form of the mini-album Kakegaenaku naritai which came out in October 2019. Though it being the Kaneyorimasaru’s first commercial release, it was one already met with a fair amount of anticipation owing to the band’s amassed following both from their performances in live houses and online, with their songs expressing the bittersweet frustration of youth and heartbreak resonating deeply with listeners.
Though absent in their debut mini-album, one track that contributed largely to the band’s popularity was their song Kankei no nai Hito, which at the time was only available as a demo CD available only for purchase at one of their shows. That, however, was not a hurdle to it becoming a widely known and beloved track for their fans, with various covers of the song being posted on TikTok and Youtube despite its limited release. The track would receive a proper digital release in April 2022, where it would still prove to be well-received, and is at present the band’s most streamed song to date.
Since their debut, the band has released a total of four mini-albums, an EP, and a full-length album, along with a steady stream of singles interspersed throughout their discography.
Looking at their streaming numbers, one might assume that Kaneyorimasaru has been riding the upswing of their career for years now, but that’s not entirely the case. Much of the band’s success can be traced back to their time under Victor Entertainment's indie subsidiary label, Don’t Trust Over 30. However, after transitioning to Victor’s major label, Getting Better Records, with the release of their first full album Watashi no Nocturne in 2023, Kaneyorimasaru has yet to reach the same numbers they achieved during their indie days.
Whether Kaneyorimasaru can recapture the same level of success as before remains to be seen, but if their recent singles are anything to go by, the band hasn’t missed a beat. Their emotive pop rock continues to pull at the heartstrings just as effectively as ever, and I’m certain that the magic people fell in love with back then is still very much alive. Will their next viral hit be tucked away in their upcoming fifth mini-album? Only time will tell.
Kaneyorimasaru’s fifth mini-album 昨日を生きない私たちへ (kinou wo ikinai watashitachi e) will be coming out on January 29, 2025.
▸ indigo la End
Our last performing act for this evening is one that perhaps needs no further introduction, indigo la End!
Celebrating their 15th anniversary as a band, indigo la End is kicking off the year with the release of their eighth full-length album, MOLTING AND DANCING, this January. The title itself evokes transformation—shedding old skin and emerging anew—which feels like a bold statement for the band and, more specifically, for frontman Kawatani Enon who serves as the band’s composer. With his extensive history of writing and composing music not just for indigo la End but for a multitude of other projects (Gesu no Kiwami Otome, Genie High, DADARAY, to name a few), this idea of reinvention carries additional weight.
In a blurb I wrote for Al over at Omunibasu’s review of BITEKI (2022) by Biteki Keikaku (yet another project that Kawatani finds himself involved in), I likened Kawatani’s work to the concept of “simulacra”—copies of an original that does not exist, to borrow a term from sociologist Jean Baudrillard—because his sound has become so uniquely defined that it’s almost impossible not to recognize it at this point.
This is the reason why I see the thesis statement behind this album as a tall undertaking for the band. How do you reinvent something that’s already so unconventional, yet has proven repeatable enough to become its own convention?
It seems the answer might lie in simple adaptation—specifically, experimenting with different styles and genres. What stood out to me about indigo la End’s most recent singles is how each one feels slightly different, not just from one another but also from the band’s usual repertoire. Kokorogawari leans much more heavily into jazz influences than Kawatani usually does, while Moumoku Datta sees him explore shoegaze/dream pop soundscapes—something he doesn’t dabble much in generally.
To me, this points to a deliberate effort to create “new” sounds—not necessarily groundbreaking in a broader sense, but new in the context of indigo la End’s discography. I see the album as an opportunity for the band to put their own spin on a variety of styles, and I’m genuinely curious to hear what other sounds Kawatani has decided to experiment with. All things considered, this might just be the most excited I’ve ever been for an indigo la End release.
indigo la End’s eighth studio album MOLTING AND DANCING is set to release on January 29, 2025.
That’s gonna do it for the J-Music Advance Party for January!
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!
Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention last year—I’m part of CD Japan’s affiliate program! So, if you’re thinking about purchasing or pre-ordering a physical copy of any of these albums, I’d greatly appreciate it if you used my CD Japan affiliate links!
The next Advance Party is gonna be on February 9, 2025! Are you looking forward to any releases next month? Check back here to see if they get featured!