Music Corner 46: Miyuu

Miyuu is a Japanese pop left handed singer-songwriter from Osaka. She got her start in 2016 by doing covers and videos of American songs such as Maroon 5’s “Payphone”, “Sugar”, and Bruno Mars “Just the way you are”. In these videos she showcased the lovely sights of Kyoto such as the temples, shrines, nature, and streets. In September 2016 she debuted her first single “Southern Waves”, which was a digital release only. That same year, she would go on to release her first EP “Where we’ll be” and in 2018 she would get signed with Avex and release her first mini-album “COME ONE, COME ALL”. Despite girls with guitars pop music being a dime a dozen, Miyuu stood out with her smokey gentle vocals, lyrics, relaxing catchy melodies, combination of Japanese and western style, and wholesome sound.

Miyuu’s “Southern Waves” is a beautiful track that draws you in with her sweet smokey vocals, wonderful guitar work, and simple yet catchy melody and chorus. The combination of her guitar and vocals drew me in as the sweet smokey sound of vocals fit the flow perfectly with the melody. Miyuu’s song “no one” showcases her guitar work and vocal range. It has a nice relaxing sound that puts you in a mood that hooks you in with its catchy chorus. “Where we’ll be” is an upbeat guitar heavy track that matches up perfectly with Miyuu’s sweet smokey vocals and immediately grabs your attention with the opening versus. By the time the chorus chimes in, you are already tapping your feet and wanting to sing-a-long. Miyuu’s ballad “closer again” is a beautiful track that is full of emotion that gives you feeling in your heart and connect with. The track “You got the love” has a great guitar beat that makes you feel good and want to get up and move to it. Miyuu’s vocals show off her sweet wholesome style that makes you fall in love with her voice.

Miyuu currently has nine digital singles, one physical single indie EP (“Where We’ll Be” from 2016), two mini albums (“COME ONE, COME ALL” from 2018 and “HERE COMES THE SOUND” from 2019), and just released her first debut album in February 2020 titled BLUE・S・LOWLY.

Check out Miyuu’s official website along with her Twitter and Instagram! Grab your copy of BLUE・S・LOWLY!

Music Corner Week 45: Macaroni Enpitsu

Macaroni Enpitsu is a four-member rock band out of Kanagawa that formed in 2012. All the members of the band went to and met at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music located in Kanagawa. In June of 2012, they performed their first live event at one of the university’s on-campus events and made the band official from that day forward. Lead by Runosuke Kono who goes by the nickname Hattori the group would go on with RECORDS BUDDY in 2015. The band would stay with RECORDS BUDDY until 2017 which then had switched to TALTO / Muffin Discs record label whom they are still with today.

Listeners can really hear these guys went to music school with a lot of their songs, performed expertly they aren’t afraid to experiment with new sounds, but still manage to find a middle ground that is also fun and enjoyable. They also have a wide amount of range and talent that they are able to execute really well. Hattori has a simple but elegant voice that really captures the listeners’, “hope” is a great example as it will strike a cord with first-time listeners. The composition at first sounds simple but there is a lot going on in the background that pulls the song together. Another track that I recommenced for listeners is “Blueberry Nights”. It piano introduction kick it off the song and holds it to a nice and upbeat composition before transitioning to a more intense chorus in which it’s guitar work is just superb. 

Hattori not only does the vocals but he also does the guitar for the band and writes all the music with the help of the base player Kenya Takano, who is also the group’s resident anime fan. Yoshiaki Tanabe is the other guitarist in the band and is responsible for the shredding guitar the listener sometimes hears. Lastly, the band’s keyboardist is Daiki Hasegawa. The original for the drummer left in 2017 and has never been replaced. Instead, the band has four people who they rotate out. The band’s Official Site posts all the latest news for the band along with their official Twitter page. They also just drop their second album titled hope so if you like what you hear be sure to give that a listen to.

Music Corner Week 44: Track's

Track’s is a three-member rock band formed in in 2014 from Fukuoka. While not rewriting the book, so to speak, on what it means to be an alternative band in the dime a dozen Japanese market, they take a page from similar alternative bands from the West. They prioritize synergy with everything above all else, which helps them to stand above and sometimes beyond their peers. Vocalist-guitarist Yonosuke Ikuta’s higher vocal range is the peanut butter to the high energy composition’s jelly, making them nothing to sneeze at. Their tracks “Daydream” and “17 years” are perfect examples of this and while listening to such songs might cause sensory overload for some, even these listeners cannot complain due to how well oiled a machine the band sounds as a whole.

Albeit having a slow start than most, Track’s has participated in several compilation albums in 2016, ‘17, and ‘19, with their first single “She is always late.” in 2017. They have also released two mini-albums, On my way home (2018) and Always with my dream (2019), along with their first album Inside Outside which set for release May 20.

Check out Track’s official website along with their Twitter. Also catch their latest music video “17 years” and pre-order Inside Outside here!

Track’s stars:

Yuki Uchida (bass)

Junta Omura (drums)

Yonosuke Ikuta (vocals, guitar)

Music Corner 43: ARKS

ARKS is a three member rock band from Osaka that formed in 2013. ARKS first consisted of school classmates Asuka Yoshida (Vocalist, Guitarist), and Ryoma Ikebe (Drums). Yuha Ochiai (Bassist, Chorus) would join the group a year later. All the members write their own lyrics that reflect their unique style and individual personalities which encompass into their music. Asuka-san’s vocals with the help of Ryoma-san and Yuha-san bring a breath of fresh air to the rock industry with a fun sound that draws you in.

ARKS’ track “Baka” has a joyfully upbeat feel with Asuka-san on vocals and on guitar. This combination gives it a heavier feel than their latest hit “Rebaruba” that has a more pop vibe to it. “Rebaruba” is a catchy tune that feels more like a pop rock song compostion and Asuka-san’s vocals add to that with her powerful yet cute voice. In “Toppu Runna— (Top Runner)” you can hear Asuka slay on the guitar at the beginning of the song. This is an upbeat rock song you can’t help but jam out to with Asuka-san’s beautiful vocals and Ryoma-san and Yuha-san make for the perfect mix of instruments. ARKS also knows how to slow things down and their track “you” is the perfect example of that. “you” starts off at a slower pace and picks up for the chorus and slows down again. Asuka-san’s vocal skills shine in this song with her composition and control.

ARKS currently has two mini albums Image and one, which are currently available on CDJapan, Spotify, AppleMusic, AmazonMusic, and more. Their latest mini album, one, just dropped on April 1st and can read about in past articles on this site. ARKS also has two mini albums before they made their debut as a three member group, Hakobuneiro and Mahou no Uta. You can follow ARKS on their official website, twitter, and instagram.

Music Corner 42: Hi ☆ Five

Hi ☆ Five is a five-member boy group formed in December 2018 and debuted in April 2019. Watanabe Entertainment, a performing arts agency, announced that they would form a brand new idol group that would act as the brother group of MAG! C ☆ PRINCE, another boy idol group. The goal was to gather a group of “the most popular boys in the class” and all members are residents from the Tokai (central) region in Japan. The temporary name for the group was TOKAI School Boys. Watanabe Entertainment held an audition with over five thousand hopefuls. One of the winners was Takuma Hayashi, who had over one million followers on popular video app TikTok at the time of audition. 

In Hi ☆ Five’s short career they have had three singles, all of which have hit the top ten on the Oricon. All of these have been high energy pop songs that are a complete blast to listen to; they feature amazing harmonization and catchy melodies that could stay stuck in your head for days. The group’s second single “Heart Beat” is a fun upbeat summer song that really captures the rays of joy that people tend to feel in the summer heat. Even though it’s a lighthearted song the listener can really hear the vocal talent that these guys possess. 

The Hi ☆ Five all stars are Takuma Hayashi, Daigo Kato, Yuya Otani, Otomo Kai , and Yusuke Noguchi. Like all modern idol groups, they are represented by the colors red, blue, yellow, green, and purple. Follow Hi ☆ Five on their official website or their Twitter. All of their music is up on Spotify and Apple Music and their hit song “Heart Beat” is posted below.