Crystal Kay / Forever (Teaser) 

Crystal Kay is on such a roll she could release just about anything and I’d lap it up, but thankfully the songs are great in their own right. J-Pop’s summer season arrives with Kay’s new single “Forever”, which is the leading release off her upcoming VIVID album dropping on the 27th of June. Following the fabulous “Superman”, “Delicious Friday” and “Haru Arashi”, it’s shaping up to be one of the best releases this year. 

CK rocks the breezy dance vibe and the video is appropriately colorful and festive (those dollar store hair extensions - another story). Crystal’s voice is so silky and adaptive it won’t take much work at all to get me moving to this. The full song is out June 6. Check out the teaser and make sure to watch in gorgeous HD!

Kyary pamyu pamyu / Pamyu Pamyu Revolution

It just dawned on me that Kyary’s album is out in less than 2 weeks, and how much unbridled joy that gives me is almost too much to think about. Almost. 

m-flo / All I Want Is You

The J-Pop song which most sounds like a UK #1; m-flo “All I Want Is You”. It’s got the radio friendly appeal and international hook, but maybe even more than that it’s got the whole producer + faceless singer formula down, which is such a popular form of UK chart hit. Although in the 2010’s it’s producer + faceless singer + rapper, as is the case here. VERBAL’s rap in the second verse pops off with all sorts of spaceship-like sounds, his alien-like emceeing always feels so futuristic to me.

m-flo’s new album SQUARE ONE is out now, and at 19 tracks is quite the odyssey. Still not sure how much I actually like it, if only because I don’t feel I’ve properly heard it all yet. Nonetheless, the venerable duo aren’t short on ambition 10 years into their career, or guest features for that matter, pulling together names from across the Asian pop landscape, the likes of 2NE1 and EXILE lead singer ATSUSHI making up just a portion of the roster. ‘All I Want’ is my favorite for sure though; check it out up top. 

Kyary pamyu pamyu / CANDY CANDY

The odd thing about “CANDY CANDY” — the latest single from J-Pop virtuoso Kyary Pamyu Pamyu — is how it’s so obviously supposed to make you believe it’s this girly, frothy sugar rush — and to an extent it is — but how instead it’s mostly just relaxed, adult candy, maybe sweetened with half and half instead of the real stuff.

I don’t know if that makes it better or worse necessarily, but it’s just a surprise, I guess. The verses are soft glimmers only kept in swirl by the patient but steady drum beat underneath. Of course, we know Nakata and Kyary can bring the diabetically crippling glucose when called for, and the chorus is just as hooky and just as infectious as it wants to be, but in a less hyperactive (dare I say, groovier) way. 

Who keeps coming up with the ideas for these videos? It’s brilliant. 

Namie Amuro / Go Round

Goodness I love Namie Amuro but she keeps giving us the same thing with these PV’s. We’ve seen her pull similar looks and similar moves in at least 5 other videos at this point. It’s not bad, in fact it rarely ever is, but it’s just so… oh I don’t know, passable? Like in a bad way though. Like she’s not even trying to be at the top of the class, and would be just as happy settling for a C+. Last year’s “NAKED” was a studio-based video similar to this, but Namie popped and brought the liveliness (not to mention sexiness) to take it to the top - I’d like to see that Namie on screen more often. 

I think the CM she recently did for ESPRIQUE brought out the breezy, feminine vibe going on in the chorus much more than the music video does. It’s one of the better songs of this era however, and has continued to prove itself as an earworm. The verses I could still really take or leave, but the chorus is just kick-butt, and I’ve caught myself humming the melody quite a few times. “How many tears, how many times?” is also quite the thought-provoking hook, I wish it wasn’t left till the end.