Feel-good music, expressed through different styles ✨
Hi everyone!
This weekend, I’ve been scouring for some of the most bright and feel-good Japanese music I could find.
I’ve been discovering some new gems, including this issue’s beautiful opener from reggae artist Natsu Summer and ice-cold cool jazz from the magnificent Kyoto Jazz Sextet, whilst turning to some of my older favourites from the likes of city-pop legend ANRI and electro-punk masterminds POLYSICS.
Grab yourself a cold drink, put your feet up and enjoy 5 different musical waves of feel-good, Japanese music 🧊🍹🧋
If you find yourself craving more, be sure to check out my Spotify & Apple Music playlists, where you can listen to all the songs that have been featured in past issues of Music of Japan 👍
音楽は気持ちを動かします (Ongaku wa kimochi o ugokashimasu) - “Music moves the feelings”🎶
“Shiosai Sunset” by Natsu Summer
🎶 reggae, city-pop 📍ehime 🗓️ released on 28th june 2021
Projecting a sound and atmosphere in her music that will transport you to a summery paradise, singer-songwriter Natsu Summer (“Natsu” literally translating to Summer) describes her unique blend of genres as “urban city reggae”. The dreamy and smooth sound of her vocals captures the essence of a summer’s day and clear skies.
Since starting her music career back in 2017, Natsu Summer has released 9 singles and 4 studio albums. She is known to regularly DJ and sing in luxury hotels and clubs throughout Tokyo.
“Shiosai Sunset” is a single released in the summer of 2021 that leans deeper into Natsu Summer’s reggae influences than her other releases. Backed with an intricate reggae bass line and the syncopated piano chords stylistic of the genre, Natsu Summer’s dreamy vocals glide beautifully over the top to form a relaxing, sweet and melodic song.
Discover more of Natsu Summer’s music and follow her via her social media accounts here!
“Driving My Love” by ANRI
🎶 city pop📍yamato, kanagawa 🗓️ released 5th december 1983
Widely considered one of the most influential and popular Japanese city-pop artists of all time, ANRI recently blossomed into new-found fame amongst an international audience through the viral discovery of many otherwise forgotten 80’s city pop albums on YouTube.
That said, ANRI is a respected legend of pop in her native Japan in her own right, with her music featuring in a wide array of films and TV shows, collaborating with the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto and performing at several major events, including the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Her music signifies what was a golden age for Japanese pop music.
One of her most popular albums was her sixth, 1983’s “TIMELY!!”, which was written in collaboration with fellow city-pop singer-songwriter, Toshiki Kadomatsu, who is known for composing other city-pop hits such as Mariya Takekuchi’s “Plastic Love”. An upbeat, feel-good album with a plethora of hits at the time (including anime theme “Cat’s Eye” and “Windy Summer”), my personal favourite is a song found later on the record - “Driving My Love”.
Written and composed by collaborator Kadomatsu, “Driving My Love” is considered one of ANRI’s signature songs. It’s about a woman who is driving with her lover and reflecting on their relationship. The track also has one of the funkiest bass lines ever!
Visit ANRI’s official website here!
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“Electric Surfin’ Go Go” by POLYSICS
🎶 new wave, synthpop, electropunk📍tokyo 🗓️ released on 28 february 2007
Seldom seen not wearing their trademark boiler suits and straight-bar sunglasses, iconic Tokyo four-piece POLYSICS dub their unique electronic music style as “technicolour pogo punk”.
Formed in 1997, the high-octane group create a blend of punk and synthpop reminiscent of western new-weave act Devo, fusing guitar music with synths and computer-programmed sound. POLYSICS currently consists of frontman Hiroyuki Hayashi (vocals, guitar, vocoder), Fuji (bass guitar, vocals, synth) and Masashi Yano (drums). Also featured in the music video above is Kayo (synth, vocoder, vocals), who left the group in 2010.
POLYSICS have released a staggering 17 albums and even more singles since their formation. During the mid-2000s in particular, upon the release of their 2004 greatest hits album “Polysics or Die!!!”, they toured the UK, Europe and USA extensively.
“Electric Surfin’ Go Go” is a single from their 2007 album “Karate House” and was the first song I heard from the band back when I was a teenager(on MySpace - the band were actually signed to MySpace Records in the US). You could say it was one of my initial introductions to Japanese music and phew, what an introduction it was.
The song combines a hyper synth lead that plays a wonderfully upbeat melody, combined with some robotic backing vocals, punk guitar and of course, Hayashi’s eccentric vocals.
Check out POLYSICS’ official website here and discover more of their music on their YouTube channel right here.
“Extra Freedom” by Kyoto Jazz Sextet
🎶 jazz📍kyoto 🗓️ released on 14th june 2017
Kyoto Jazz Sextet is a jazz band formed by brothers Shuya Okino of the famed jazz-electronic duo, Kyoto Jazz Massive, to celebrate 20 years in the music business. The band consists of Okino as a producer along with a mix of talented domestic jazz musicians, including Takeshi Kurihara (tenor saxophone), Shinpei Ruike (trumpet), Yusuke Hirado (piano), Yoshihito “P” Koizumi (upright bass) and Masanori Amakura (drums).
The ensemble serves as a vehicle for Okino to produce jazz in its acoustic/traditional format, in contrast to his more electronic take on the genre with Kyoto Jazz Massive. The band have released two albums - most recently, 2022’s “SUCCESSION” and their 2017 debut “UNITY”, on which “Extra Freedom” is the final track.
“Extra Freedom” initially caught my ear with the solo upright riff played with skill by Koizumi in the song’s intro, followed by the sparingly timed drums from Amakura (from which he breaks into a beautiful riding beat for the chorus), Hirado’s beautiful jazz chords and the climbing tenor sax solo by Kurihara and powerful melodic support from Ruike on trumpet. A fantastic piece of modern jazz.
Explore more of Kyoto Jazz Sextet’s music on YouTube here!
“No Cast” by Galileo Galilei
🎶 indie pop, electropop📍wakkanai, hokkaido 🗓️ released on 31st may 2023
Formed in 2007 in Wakkanai, a city located on the northern tip of Hokkaido, indie-pop/rock group Galileo Galilei recently reformed and released a new album this year after previously breaking up in late 2016 after a 9-year career and 5 albums together. The band currently consists of Yuki Ozaki (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Kazuki Ozaki (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Fumito Iwai (guitar, backing vocals, keyboards) and new member Masaki Okazaki (bass).
In contrast to their previous indie rock sound, Galileo Galilei have opted for a more shimmering electropop tone for their new album, “Bee and The Whales”, released in May. The track that particularly stood out for me was the 4th song, “No Cast”.
The song is about the feeling of being trapped in a role that you don’t want to play in life. Ozaki’s lyrics describe being forced to act in a certain way, even though he doesn’t feel it’s authentic, and his subsequent message to be yourself, even if it doesn’t conform with what society expects of you. The song adopts the metaphor of being a character in a stage production and then breaking the character to be yourself and disown the parts that are just for show.
Coated with a sparkling 80’s glow, “No Cast” features anthem-worthy upbeat synths, a pulsating, reverberated, driving drum beat and passionately delivered vocals from Ozaki.
Visit Galileo Galilei’s official website here and discover more of their music via their YouTube channel here!
Thank you for reading! I hope you discovered some music you may have liked in this edition.
If you have any thoughts on how I can improve this newsletter and your experience with it, please get in touch at themusicofjapan@gmail.com.
Thank you, found so many great artists and songs thanks to these posts! Electric Surfin’ Go Go is a vibe